It's a Family Thing
by Ms. Perception
Summary: As Iron Man flew towards the Chitauri portal he had only one person on his mind: his youngest son, Blaine Anderson. Blaine has always been Tony's best kept (read only) secret. He really should've known that one little phone call was going to change everything. But what he didn't know was that he wasn't the only Avenger whose life was going to change.
1. It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

**Summary:** As Iron Man flew towards the Chitauri portal he had only one person on his mind: his youngest son, Blaine Anderson. Blaine has always been Tony's best kept (read only) secret. He really should've known that one little phone call was going to change everything. But what he didn't know was that he wasn't the only Avenger whose life was going to change.

**Pairings**: Established Vague!Clintasha, Pepperony, Klaine, Finnchel. Hinted Pucktana, Blam, and Puckleberry relationships. And as always, Blamman bromance with The Science Bros and their plus one (Clint). As always pairings in my story are subject to rapid change!

**Warnings**: Language, I guess, because I have a potty mouth damn it. Also a strong possibility for crackish behaviors, Sam being a fangirl and Kurt bashing. Spoilers for _The Avengers_ and up to season four of _Glee_.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing! This is set at the end of the season three of _Glee_ and the end of _The Avengers_.

**Author's Note****: **So, hey everybody! A very long time ago the very awesome lauraperfectinsanity suggested that I write a Glee/Avengers crossover. And I was immediately on board with that but then life happened and the idea got shelved. And then I broke my ankle and had copious amount of free time! So here we are… part one of I don't even know how many. I hope that people enjoy!

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><p><strong>It's So Hard to Say Goodbye<strong>

When Blaine was eight, he finally realized that something wasn't quite right with his family. Sure they were nice enough but he never felt like he fit with them. He always had a sneaking suspicion given that he didn't look anything like them. Or it was more accurate to say that his father looked nothing like them. Blaine knew that he had his mother's nose and Cooper clearly had their mother's eyes. But neither of them had anything in common with their father. Anytime he tried to bring it to his mother's attention, she played it off or bought him a new puzzle or Lego set to take his mind off it. That was another thing. Unlike his parents who trusted the world around them, Blaine wanted to figure out how it worked. It took his mother six years to figure out that Blaine was naturally inquisitive and was prone to taking things apart so he could understand how they worked. That's when the Lego sets started popping up. He really wished that she wouldn't look so sad whenever he assembled one though.

When Blaine was ten, his brother let the secret slip. It was right around the time that their grandmother died. Blaine really didn't know her that well but Cooper did. He was completely distraught. His then seventeen year old brother was also completely wasted when he pulled his Blaine to the side and told him that neither one of them were the son of Stanley Anderson. Cooper's dad was some jerk that knocked their mom up and left while Blaine was the son of the man that rescued their down and out mother… Anthony "Tony" Stark. Blaine brushed it off at the time partly because that was just ridiculous. Tony Stark was… well huge and famous and a billionaire. But mostly because immediately after that little confession, Cooper vomited in a plastic potted palm tree that he subsequently declared was his new best friend. He stubbornly refused to leave the newly named Stella for the rest of the night. So Blaine took that Cooper's confession as the drunken ramblings of an already insane person and moved on.

When Blaine was thirteen years old, Tony Stark was kidnapped in Afghanistan and held hostage for three months. His name and face were all over the news for the majority of those three months. Blaine couldn't help but think back to Cooper's drunken confession (and Stella... yeah, he actually kind of missed Stella). But now that Tony's face was everywhere he went, Blaine couldn't help but notice the similarities between himself and Tony Stark. They both loved to build things. They had the same eyes and smile. The same inquisitive nature…. Blaine couldn't help but start to wonder if maybe he really was the son of Tony Stark. He didn't ask though because the man was missing, pretty much assumed to be dead. He didn't want his mother thinking that he was trying to lay claim to his wealth or anything like that. But then a miracle happened and Tony was rescued. Soon after his return, the media found something new to focus on and Blaine was left wondering if he was ever going to get an answer to his question. In a pure twist of fate, Blaine got his answer about two weeks after Tony was found when Tony Stark himself showed up at the Anderson household looking for Cooper and found Blaine instead.

Blaine remembered opening the door and staring up at the man in wonder. Once they were literally just inches apart, Blaine saw all the different things that he tried to brush off as just coincidence and knew he couldn't deny them anymore. This man really was his father…. And it appeared he was getting that memo too. Tony gaped at him for a brief moment before all but bellowing for Blaine's mother. She came rushing into the room, took one look at the reunited father and son and fainted. Cooper definitely got the melodramatics from their mother.

The facts were these: When Tony Stark was twenty one years old, after having added yet another college degree to his already impressive resume, he met a pretty young waitress named Annette. Annette with her lack of formal education and a baby on the way was the complete opposite of what his father would want in a potential daughter-in-law. Naturally, this meant that he had to fall head over heels in love with her. Tony helped raise Cooper and by all rights was the father that Cooper never had. He also helped Annette get the degrees she always wanted. But by the time they were twenty seven, they were half broken up. By the time they were twenty eight, Annette was bored with her life. She was bored of a life where her partner was more consumed with his gadgets, gizmos and robots than he was with her. She couldn't say that Tony was a bad father. He wasn't. But Annette wanted something more. So she left Tony, taking Cooper and the son that Tony wouldn't know anything about for thirteen years with her. Tony was still an active part of Cooper's life. Occasionally he would fly his former stepson back to New York or to Malibu for the weekend. But Blaine knew nothing about this. Until that afternoon when he was thirteen years old when he answered the door and learned that he was never Blaine Anderson. That he was actually Blaine Stark.

From that day on, Blaine and Tony formed a fast bond. Blaine didn't resent Tony at all for not being a part of his life before that moment. He actually appreciated the effort his father put into getting to know him. Especially since Blaine knew that it definitely conflicted with his Iron Man activities. Blaine was still a bit mind blown to know that his father was Iron Man but he was also proud. He read the horror stories in the tabloids. He knew what people thought about his father. But he also knew his father was a good man who tried the best he could. Blaine didn't take that for granted and he never wanted Tony to change. Well, that is until a month before the end of his junior year when aliens invaded New York and his loud insane amazing ridiculous genius of a father died saving the world.

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><p>This wasn't real. This could not be happening. Blaine fought the urge to rock back and forth as his eyes were riveted to the scene unfolding before them. It was insane. There were actual aliens and monsters fighting in the streets of New York. And his father was right in the middle of it. Pepper had called him the night before to give him a warning that his father was about to get involved in something very serious but he had no idea she meant this! This was… huge. This was nothing his father had ever faced before. A cold feeling settled in his stomach as he sat staring at the television with his boyfriend standing beside him and feeling smaller and younger than ever before. He felt alone even though he was standing in the middle of Rachel's living room surrounded by the rest of the glee club. They were supposed to be celebrating their win at Nationals but instead they were now watching in horrified fascination as actual superheroes were fighting back against aliens. Even knowing that his friends were with him, Blaine felt alone. Because he all he wanted in that moment was his father.<p>

"Who are those guys?" Tina's voice sounded from somewhere around him. "I mean I know Iron Man but who are those other guys?"

"The blonde dude is an alien god named Thor. He's what all our ideas of Norse mythology are based on," Puck responded. Several eyes cut towards him. He shrugged. "I know things." Brittany nodded beside him as if confirming that Puck did in fact know things.

Blaine couldn't help but laugh at the brief moment of levity. Then he was back to freaking out internally because was that a missile on Iron Man's back? And why was he flying towards the giant hole in the sky that the aliens were coming from with a missile on his back?!

He felt his phone buzzing on his hip. He was tempted to ignore it. It was probably just Cooper. When the invasion started, Cooper insisted that he was coming home. He wasn't going to let Blaine be alone. He was grateful for the offer but he didn't need his brother giving him status updates every fifteen minutes on his commute home. But something told Blaine to at least check. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and felt his heart skip a few beats when he saw that it was his father. He was probably using JARVIS. Blaine picked up, clearing his throat to try to hide the evidence of tears. He moved away from the rest of the teens trying to get some semblance of privacy while also being able to keep an eye on the television.

"Hey, dad."

"_Hey, kiddo. Quick question, have you ever tried schwarma? And if so, what the hell is it and is it good?"_

"Seriously?" Blaine laughed softly. "It's Middle Eastern and its basically roasted meat, vegetables and bread. It's actually really good. You should try it sometime. You're in New York City. I'm pretty sure there are like a thousand good places right by the Tower."

"_Yeah, I should try it one day_," Tony mumbled. _"So what are you up to?"_

"Oh, you know, just hanging out at a friend's house. Watching some news. There's an alien invasion happening in New York, did you hear?"

"_So watching your old man, huh? Like my team?" _

"I thought you didn't play well with others."

"_I usually don't. But I found some special ones,"_ Tony chuckled_. _Blaine felt happier at the sound of his father's familiar laugh. He felt less small… less alone. _"They're kind of adorably neurotic and fun. Even Captain Amazing over there." _

"So Grandpa Howard was right? Captain America is actually real?"

"_Yeah, the legends are true. Still don't see the appeal." _

"That blonde guy fighting with you, he's not a real god… is he?"

"_Thor is something, alright. He's a pretty good guy to say that it's his brother that's causing all of this,"_ Tony laughed again. But this time it sounded more like a sob. Blaine chewed on his lip. The dread was returning full force. _"I guess I can't persuade you to turn the television off, huh?"_

"Nope. What are you doing?"

There was a pause. _"What I have to do, kid. It's the only way. I wish there was another… I have to do this, Blaine."_

Blaine chewed on his lip. "You're not coming back from this, are you?"

"_I don't know…. I don't think so. I'm so sorry." _

"What for?"

"_For not being there for thirteen years." _

"It's ok. You didn't know about me," Blaine replied, the words coming out choked as he tried to stifle the sobs that wanted to come out. "But you've been there for the last four and it's been great. Wish we could have had more time."

"_Me too, Blaine. Me too."_ The connection started to crack as Iron Man approached the portal. _"Take care of your brother for me. I know he can be a pain in your ass but he means well. He loves you in his own Cooper way."_

"I know and I will."

"_Take care of yourself too. Pepper knows what to do. Keep in touch with her, will you?" _

"Yeah, of course I will." Blaine ignored the tears rolling down his face as he watched his father enter the portal. "I love you, dad."

"_I…." _

His phone beeped as the connection was lost. There were several cheers as Iron Man guided the missile that was apparently going to destroy Manhattan through the portal. Blaine couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen. There was a shockwave from deep within the portal that showed that the threat was over. Iron Man did it. He saved the world. He was a hero. Blaine let out a low moan even as he found the tears coming faster. He blindly sat down on a chair behind him. His eyes still glued to the television. They were celebrating and Blaine never hated a group of people more. Tony didn't need to do this to be a hero. Tony Stark was already a hero to Blaine. He didn't need to die to prove that.

"Uh, Blaine, are you ok?" Artie asked, hesitantly. Blaine tore his eyes away from the screen finally to realize that the entire glee club was staring at him. Several of them were giving him understanding looks while some of the others were visually dissecting him.

He cleared his throat, idly brushing away his own tears. "Yeah, I'm good. I'm fine."

"Bullshit," Puck countered. Blaine stared blankly at him. Puck rolled his eyes. "Dude, you just watched your dad fly into an alien portal. That's grounds for not being ok."

"Ok, great can we please address the metal elephant in the room," Kurt started. His eyes were wide and incredulous. Blaine couldn't help but read the accusation in the blue orbs either. "Your dad is Tony Stark? Your dad is Iron Man?!"

"Yes," Blaine replied, sadly. "He _was_ Tony Stark. He _was_ Iron Man."

"Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell me?!"

Blaine felt his jaw drop. "Seriously?! You're seriously asking me that right now? I just watched my dad fly through a friggin alien portal with a giant nuclear missile strapped to his back. I just watched my dad die to save the world. And you're actually upset because I didn't tell you about him before now?!"

"Look I know you're upset but don't you see how this could be a little shocking for me too?!" Kurt countered. Rachel groaned before grabbing Kurt's arm and dragging him out of the room. Thankfully, the rest of the teens got the hint that Blaine needed a moment and started to scatter. Well, not all of them took that hint.

He wasn't aware he was shaking until he felt a gentle hand on his arm. He looked up to meet Puck's gaze. The older teen gave him a hint of a smile before tapping the phone still clutched tightly in Blaine's hand.

"So I'm pretty sure that your dad has to have some assistants or staff or something. There's got to be someone that's around that would know what's going on."

"Yeah, give them a call," Sam encouraged from Puck's other side.

"What's the point? He's gone," Blaine mumbled, not bothering to look to the screen again. It was just the news team sharing their feelings about what was happening. As if Blaine cared. His dad was dead. He didn't care about anything right now. He slumped lower in his seat.

"Hogwarts, seriously? Like everyone knows how Tony Stark became Iron Man," Santana chimed in, plopping down on the back on the sofa. Brittany settled down in the space beside Blaine. "I think you most likely know the story better than us. I think it's safe to say that if he could survive that, he could survive a lot. Don't give up just yet."

Blaine took a deep steadying breath and nodded. He was Blaine Anthony Stark. He wasn't built to give in. He was built to keep fighting. And he was going to do just that. He gave the small group a grateful smile before dialing Happy's number. When he didn't answer, Blaine dialed Pepper, feeling the frustration growing once again as she also failed to pick up. He kept going for the next twenty minutes as he reached out to almost every staff member even remotely associated with Stark Tower. Some of them answered. Some of them said that they honestly had no idea what was happening as they hightailed it out of the city as soon as the first alien landed. But most of them were just confused, scared and looking to him for answers. He hung up on those pretty quickly. He was about to try another number when his phone rang. He didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, kid. Miss me?" _

"Dad?!" Blaine yelled, standing up abruptly. He ignored Santana's indignant yelp as his sudden movement caused her to topple over. "Dad, where are you?"

"_At the Tower,"_ Tony answered.

"Are you ok?"

"_Yeah, I'm ok. Just a little sore. And partially deaf_," his voice sounding slightly muffled as he turned his mouth away from the phone to yell at someone near him. Blaine smiled at the barely audible response punctuated with a few laughs. _"So how are you? You ok?"_

"I'm fine. I didn't just die trying to save the world."

"_No, but you had to watch."_ Blaine swallowed.

"That was…. That was hard. But I'm ok now that I know you're alive."

"_Good. But to tell you the truth, I could be better. You see as I was going towards what I assumed was my certain doom, I kept thinking there were only two things I really needed in that moment. And now that I'm not dead I really need those two things. " _

"Let me guess, Pepper and schwarma?"

"_Who'd you get your sense of humor from, kid? Ok let me rephrase that, smart ass, there were only three things that I really needed in that moment. You and your brother are at the top of that list."_ Blaine swallowed the lump in his throat. _"So I know school is letting out in a few weeks. You think your mom would mind me spending some time with you? Maybe Cooper too."_

"Who cares if she minds?" Blaine blurted out. "I mean, she's not around anyway. She and Step-Stan are backpacking through Europe or something like that. I'm not exactly sure where they are this time."

"_Remind me to have words with your mother about her parenting techniques. They seem to be a bit… nonexistent. But anyway, I'll take that as a go for me to visit. I might be bringing some guests. I think we might have to lay low for awhile. We kind of destroyed Manhattan a little_." He paused, listening to something on his end. _"Fine, the Capsicle wants to say that I should be honest and that we destroyed Manhattan a lot! But I still blame Point Break and The Hulk for most of that by the way. Anyway, so yeah, I might be bringing some friends. That cool with you, kid?"_

"Yeah, that's cool," Blaine answered, quickly. His smile faltered. "You're really going to come to Lima, Ohio to hang out with me?"

"_Yes, I'm really going to go to Lima, Ohio to spend some quality time with my kids. And I'm apparently definitely bringing the rest of my team with me. I think we could all use a little downtime. Plus they're kind of fun." _

Blaine snickered softly. His dad could never just come out and say that he cared. It was always a roundabout type of thing. Clearly something else happened with the rest of what the press was now calling the Avengers and his father was concerned. Blaine smiled. His father was making friends. It was almost adorable.

"So I'll see you in a couple of days?"

"_Yeah, I'll be there. I have to go take care of some stuff, including the bratty alien god shaped dent in my floor and then I'll be there with you." _

Blaine smiled. "Awesome. See you soon." He heard voices on the other side of the line teasing his father before the connection was cut. But unlike before, Blaine didn't feel like a part of him died. Because his father was alive and he was going to be here in a matter of days to spend some time with his son… well, sons. Because no doubt Cooper was also going to stick around. Oh, well. He sat down again with a bright smile and feeling better than he a few minutes ago because everything was right in his world again.

"So he's ok?" Puck asked, flopping down beside him. Blaine nodded. "See, told you."

"He's Iron Man," Sam rolled his eyes, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. Blaine snorted. "Also, did you say Captain America earlier? Does that mean that Captain America is real? That guy was the actual Captain America?!"

"Yes, that was the real deal," Blaine replied. "Kind of shocked about that one too. Dad always thought Grandpa Howard was full of it. Guess he was wrong." Sam nodded slowly and Blaine could practically hear his inner fan girl flailing out of happiness. He would definitely make a note to find a way to bring Sam around the team. He's sure his dad wouldn't mind. Actually knowing his father and the ongoing war that he had with Howard Stark's memory, Tony would probably actively encourage anyone or anything that would get a rise out of the famous Captain America.

"So Iron Man," Puck smiled, raising an eyebrow. Blaine opened his mouth but Puck shook his head. "Just teasing you, dude. I get it. I wouldn't run around telling everyone Tony Stark was my dad either. Being his kid doesn't seem like the safest position in the world. So I get why you didn't tell anyone. I'm just glad he's ok."

Blaine nodded, grateful for Puck's easy acceptance and kind words. "You're really calm about all of this. As we can see my own boyfriend didn't take the news that well."

"Good thing I'm not your boyfriend," Puck winked with a sly grin. "But like I said, my cousin actually met that blond guy, Thor. The chick she was doing an internship with is like soul mates with Thor or something. I didn't really believe her at first. Guess I should've. Apparently rolling with superheroes runs in our family. Our great grandmother, Nana Peggy, used to tell us stories about Steve Rogers, the man who would become Captain America. Darcy always thought they had a thing. I just thought Nana Peggy was senile. But now I'm starting to think she might of have been right."

"Seriously, did everyone know that Captain America was really real but me?" Sam whined. Santana patted him on the head before diverting all of their attention to the door where Blaine could just make out Kurt's head peeking around the corner. Oh, he so didn't feel like dealing with that right now. He was still feeling a lot emotional at the moment. Getting into a screaming match with his sometimes completely oblivious boyfriend was definitely not something he wanted at the moment.

"Guess I should go talk to him, huh?"

"You could," Santana drawled. "Or we could get the hell out of here and do something decidedly less lame than party with the same people we see every day."

"Like what?"

Santana shrugged looking over at her best friend. "Britt?"

"Bowling!" Brittany replied with another nod. Sam and Puck exchanged a quick glance before nodding in unison. Brittany squealed throwing her arms around both boys. "Blaine?"

"I guess… but how are we supposed to get past them? They're kind of blocking the front door," Blaine said, glancing again at the others that were still hovering just outside the door despite Rachel trying to direct them all away from the room.

"Easy, bro. This room actually has two entrances," Puck answered absently. "If we go out that door over there, it takes you down and into this weird ass corridor that actually opens up a little bit down the street."

"And you know this how."

Puck rolled his eyes. "I've known Rachel since I was born. I used to sneak in and sleepover the nights my dad would get completely wasted. It was easier to be here than there. But then he moved out and…. Yeah." Puck trailed off as if realizing that he said too much. He raked a hand through his hair. "So we bowling or what?"

"Yeah, bowling! Bowling is awesome. I love bowling. Bowling is….." Puck reached and slapped his hand over Sam's mouth.

"Shut up, Sammy."

"Shutting up."

Blaine laughed before Puck's lead out the back door he had never noticed before that moment. Sure enough it did lead out into some corridor that probably had some awesomely interesting story to it (and not just the one where Puck and Rachel were adorable little friends). He grinned as the last few rays of sunlight hit his skin when they finally emerged on the street. As he strolled down the street following his newfound group of friends, Blaine felt all the worries of earlier melting away. Yes, he and Kurt were in a weird place but his father alive and Blaine was actually hanging out with people that were not Kurt and his immediate friends. Sometimes you had to take the wins and forget about the rest of the crap.

"So tell me everything you know Captain America. Like everything!"

Yeah, definite win.

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><p>*The end for now. There will more than likely be more with actual Avengers in it.<p> 


	2. Hakuna Matata

**Summary:** As Iron Man flew towards the Chitauri portal he had only one person on his mind: his youngest son, Blaine Anderson. Blaine has always been Tony's best kept (read only) secret. He really should've known that one little phone call was going to change everything. But what he didn't know was that he wasn't the only Avenger whose life was going to change.

**Pairings**: Established Vague!Clintasha, Pepperony, Klaine, Finnchel. Pucktana, Puckleberry, Brittana, Pezberry friendships. And as always, Blamman bromance with The Science Bros and their plus one (Clint).

**Warnings**: Language, I guess, because I have a potty mouth damn it. Also a strong possibility for crackish behaviors, Sam being a fangirl and Kurt bashing. Spoilers for _The Avengers_ and up to season four of _Glee_.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing! This is set at the end of the season three of _Glee_ and the end of _The Avengers_.

**Author's Note****: **Thanks so much for the reviews for last chapter. They mean a lot. I hope that you will all continue to enjoy this chapter as well. I took out the hinted pairings note. I don't really think this story is going to be focused on 'ships unless it's breaking them up. They have enough to worry about without worrying about that! So hope you all enjoy!

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><p><strong>Hakuna Matata <strong>

When Blaine woke up the next morning, there were several things that struggled against the early morning haze that normally fogged up his brain. The first thing was that his phone was chirping loudly and, most importantly, annoyingly by his head. He managed to crack an eye open long enough to see that he had about 20 missed calls and texts from Kurt. It seemed that his boyfriend was less than pleased with his decision to skip out of the rest of the party in order to go bowling with the others. Blaine would feel bad about that but … he didn't. Last night was the most fun he had in a while. So yeah, definitely no regrets about that one. The second thing that he noticed was that his house smelled pretty freaking wonderful. It was almost like someone was cooking but that almost never happened here. His mother was definitely not the domestic type (hence why she was hardly ever home), Stanley was a disaster in the kitchen and Cooper somehow inherited some bizarre mix of the two of them. So that ruled out any member of his family (i.e. the only people that should be in the house right now). That of course explained his third observation. And that was that he was not in his bed alone anymore. He tensed before he finally caught a whiff of the familiar gasoline and grease smell that had his mind settling.

"Took you long enough to notice," a voice muttered beside him. Blaine cracked an eye open to glare over at his father who was stretched out on the bed beside him. He had a couple of bandaged scratches on his face and there were bags under his eyes but he looked otherwise healthy. He looked alive. "You know, I pay your mother a small fortune a month in child support. What exactly is she using that money on? Because it's definitely not on home security. The Capsicle broke in here with no problem and he's been on ice for the past seventy years."

"You do know there is a key under the mat, right?"

Tony gasped in mock horror, his hand flying to his reliable, steadily glowing arc reactor dramatically. "This is the 21st century and you people still leave keys under mats?! What is wrong with you guys? Don't you know what kind of world we live in?"

"I know what kind of world _you_ live in. But in _my_ world, the most dangerous thing I have to contend with is the homophobic hockey team."

Tony tensed, the playful atmosphere dropping for a moment. "They're not still giving you a problem, are they?"

"What are you going to do? Threaten them with the suit?"

Tony nudged him on the leg with his toe. "Believe it or not, I don't use the suit for everything, brat. Besides I'm a billionaire. That means I don't have to fight my own battles. I would totally ask Natasha to do it. Beating up a bunch of ignorant mouth-breathing teenagers would probably be her version of Christmas."

"You're right. Your new friends do sound fun." Blaine yawned, sitting up somewhat. He sniffed the air again. "Seriously, who's cooking?"

"Clint," Tony replied. "He came in, took one look at your fridge, and almost had what I swear was a stroke before dragging Bruce and Steve back out to the nearest Wal-Mart where apparently they bought the entire grocery section."

Blaine grabbed his phone from the end table beside him and frowned. "It's barely six in the morning. How long have you been here? Also why are you here? I thought you said that you would be leaving in a couple of days."

"I lied," his father shrugged before draping an arm around Blaine's shoulders, pulling him close in their first hug in several months. It had been way too long since he saw his dad. Too damn long. "Missed you, kiddo."

"Missed you too, dad."

"Seriously though, your security? It's crap. You might not have terrorists and aliens walking the streets, but this world has ways of creating dangers that you never see coming. I don't like you being unprotected."

"I know, Dad, trust me I know. It's just that Mom was not a fan of the original system I built," Blaine admitted, leaning his head against his father's. "I designed it to fire a non lethal jolt of electricity at anyone that was deemed to be a hostile threat to the safety and sanctity of the household."

"Ok, that sounded promising. So what was your mother's beef with that?"

"The system deemed Cooper to be a hostile threat," Blaine smirked. Tony snorted before elbowing him in the side. Blaine shifted away from him with a laugh. "Have you seen his commercials, Dad? They're bordering on abusively awful. It's not my fault that the system took violent offense to it. But anyway, Mom couldn't stand her precious Cooper being hurt in any way even though I would like to point out that he wasn't even hurt! There were no long lasting negative side effects after he regained consciousness so I don't know what the big deal was. Oh wait, yes I do. It's Cooper. So I got grounded and we put up that crap system we have now."

His father sighed. "Sometimes I regret being Iron Man. Mostly in moments like these. And also when flying into alien wormholes with nuclear missiles on my back."

"What? Why? You love being Iron Man. aside from the aforementioned whole alien wormhole missile moments."

"Yes, but being Iron Man and having the whole world know about it, makes it a little difficult to also be a father. I don't want to bring you into my crazy world, kid. But I hate the idea of leaving you here with your mom even more."

Blaine chewed on his lip. He knew that this was a sensitive topic for his father… hell for him too. In the past four years, the idea of Blaine living with Tony had come up more than once or twice… a month. But the general consensus was always that it wasn't safe. Blaine had enjoyed a life of relative safety (minus encounters with homophobic jocks) but that was mostly because he didn't grow up with his father. Being around Tony would lead to a life in the spotlight that Blaine wasn't sure he was ready for. But he got that much closer to being ready every time he had to watch his mother fawn over her precious Cooper or his stepfather question not just his sexual orientation but also his fascination with machines because it was yet another reminder that Blaine was not his biological child. Sometimes Blaine would feel bad about how readily he accepted Tony as his father when he constantly pushed Stanley away. But then he would remember how Stanley kept him at arms' length just as much. Tony took one look at him once the paternity news was broken and was already plotting all the ways they could raise hell together. Yeah, Blaine didn't really feel too bad about referring to Stanley as Step-Stan.

"Let's not think about that right now," Blaine said, forcing cheer into his voice. He met his father's nearly identical brown eyed gaze and mustered a more sincere smile. "I believe breakfast is about to be served and I don't know about you but it's been months since I had a home cooked breakfast."

"Things like this really make me want to take Pepper up on her daily offers to punch your mom in the face." Blaine snickered.

"Have I ever told you that Pepper is like the best thing that ever happened to you?"

"Second best," Tony corrected. Blaine opened his mouth to ask what the first thing was but closed it just as quickly. Oh, yeah, right that would be him. Oh. "Alright, enough sap. Get dressed and get your butt downstairs. You have enough time to eat and meet and greet the others if I get Happy to drop you off at school."

"Awesome," Blaine grinned before bouncing off the bed. He then thought back to the previous day and the utter pit of depression he fell into until Puck dragged him out along with the others. He really wanted to do something to repay all of them but at the moment he had way of paying one of them at least. "Uh, dad? I have this friend who really helped me out yesterday. He actually doesn't live that far from here… you think Happy could pick him up too?"

"Sure," Tony shrugged. He then grinned slyly. "Look at you, making friends. Brings a tear to my eye, it does. I'm so proud of you, kid."

Blaine rolled his eyes before tuning his father out as he considered his outfit for the day. He looked up from his contemplation of a purple bowtie versus black when there was a soft knock followed by a head of curly red hair appearing through the slightly opened door.

"Clint wants everyone to know that breakfast is ready. I suggest we hurry. Banner's eyes are glowing green and I think he's about to consume the Hulk's weight in bacon and waffles. And despite Clint and Steve buying what appears to be the entire grocery section, I don't think they bought enough for that. Let's all just be grateful Thor isn't here. Well he's not here yet. Because you know he's coming back as soon as that Loki business is settled. I think he really wants a rematch with the Hulk for that sucker punch."

Tony snorted before gesturing towards Blaine with his head. "Natasha Romanoff, meet Blaine. Blaine, this is the infamous Black Widow."

"Oh, she's the one that infiltrated your office undercover last year," Blaine said. Natasha raised an eyebrow in Tony's direction. His father shrugged.

"Just because SHIELD didn't know about Blaine doesn't mean that Blaine doesn't know about SHIELD. Besides he's my kid. He would've found out somehow one day. Hell, he figured out I was his dad before I did."

"Cooper helped."

"Was that before or after he threw up on Stella?"

"Before. And it's a shame about Stella. He really liked that plant. But I told him not to leave it out when Step Stan is smoking. He has no problems putting his nasty cancer sticks out on any available surface. Even plastic plant shaped available surfaces. It was a sad way for Stella to go but I'm not going to lie. The breakdown was epic."

"It was. Thanks for filming that by the way."

"No problem. Cooper's embarrassment is my pleasure."

Natasha snickered, drawing their attention back to the redheaded assassin. "I still can't believe you managed to hide not one but two sons from SHIELD. You, the same person who blurted out that they were Iron Man literally like a day after anyone found out he existed. I'm impressed, Stark. But are you completely sure that Cooper isn't your biological child? He acts scarily like you before Pepper tamed you."

"Oh god, what did he do now?" Blaine asked, already embarrassed on his brother's behalf. Because everyone knew Cooper had no shame… he really was a lot like Tony in that regard.

"The second he laid eyes on Natasha, he started hitting on her. When she shut him down, he turned his attention to Clint who also shut him down. Then he moved onto Steve who's too embarrassed and confused to do more than gape at him. Cooper's taking that as consent to keep flirting. It's nice to know he's flexible in terms of who he's sleeping with these days." Blaine laughed, already having a mental image in his head. Cooper was a shameless flirt. He was also very much not into labels about his sexual preferences. He was going to have a talk with his brother about not trying to bang any of the Avengers while they were here visiting.

"Like I said, he's definitely your son," Natasha grinned. "Anyway you have five minutes to get downstairs. Otherwise I'm letting Bruce have at it."

"You wouldn't starve my kid in his own house, would you?"

"Cooper already saved him a plate. That was mostly directed towards you, Stark. Get your ass in gear," Natasha called over her shoulder.

"You know you love me!"

"I tolerate you!" Natasha's retort echoed up the stairs.

Tony laughed, settling back on the bed. "I told Pep I was wearing her down."

Blaine shook his head at his father's antics. He smirked, knowing he looked more like his father in that moment than ever before. "Look at you, making friends. Brings a tear to my eye, it does. I'm so proud of you, dad."

"Get dressed, smart ass."

* * *

><p>It took only five seconds for Blaine to understand how and why his father clicked with these particular people. Dr. Banner, or Bruce as he insisted Blaine call him, was a more grounded and sane version of his father. Smart yet tortured by demons from his past as well as the literal rage monster he could become at the drop of a pin. But Blaine could see him slowly emerging from his shell as the older scientist listened to Tony and Natasha bickering between themselves while also trying to drag Clint into their conversation. Blaine was intrigued by the quiet archer. He was pretty good at reading people and he could tell that the quiet was a new thing. Clint wasn't used to be quiet and Natasha wasn't used to him being quiet either. Blaine could tell something serious happened to the agent based off the amount of concerned looks he was getting. But Blaine could also tell that Clint was going to be okay with time. In the half an hour he managed to spend with his father's new friends before it was time for Happy to whisk him off for school, Blaine witnessed the archer almost smile a few times as well as stifling a laugh behind his hands. Yeah, he would definitely be okay.<p>

But of all of his father's new friends, it was Steve Rogers that truly caught Blaine's attention. From the minute he laid eyes on the literal embodiment of an American hero, there was something about him that seemed familiar to Blaine. It wasn't just the stories that Tony told him that were passed down from his Grandfather but something more. He didn't quite understand what it was about the man but he knew that the Avengers seemed to be practically moving into his house for at least a few weeks. He figured he had more than enough time to figure out what it was about the man that stood out to him. Speaking of time…

He pulled his phone out and dialed Puck's number. The older teen picked up on the second ring while simultaneously yelling at someone in the background. "Did I interrupt something?" Blaine asked, snickering.

"_Nah, just people around here don't realize it's too damn early in the morning to be so freaking hyper! What the hell are you even so happy about anyway? We're just going to school, loser!_" Puck retorted. His voice was slightly muffled as he continued to berate someone on the other end of the line. There was another burst of laughter from Puck's morning companion. Puck huffed. "_I seriously hate you. Anyway, Blaine, what can I do for you?_"

"It's actually what I can do for you. My dad showed up early. He got me a ride to school today and I know you don't live that far from me…. so I was wondering if you wanted a lift?"

"_That sounds awesome and thanks for the offer but I can't. I'm not alone_."

"Oh, you have to take your sister to school?"

"_No, Sarah takes the school bus. What I mean is that Sam ended up coming over here after Kurt totally bitched him out when he got home last night. Carole and Burt are cool but they weren't trying to get in the middle of that. Finn naturally took Kurt's side. So Sam crashed here last night because things got really awkward_."

Blaine winced. He probably should've known that Kurt was going to make life miserable for someone last night. And since apparently he couldn't get to Blaine, he went for Sam instead. He really should've thought about that but he hadn't. Well, he wanted to thank his friends for taking him out yesterday and now he could cross two of them off that list.

"So, bring him with you. My dad's car is big enough to fit the three of us, you know."

"_Yeah, ok. That could work_," Puck laughed quietly. "_We'll see you in a few then_."

"I'll text when I'm closer."

"_Cool… and thanks, Blaine_."

"No problem."

Blaine hung the phone up with a small smile on his face. Tony arched an eyebrow leaning closer to his son. "You sure this guy is just a friend? Or is he a _boy_friend?"

Blaine rolled his eyes even as Clint threw a slice of toast at Tony. True to his code name, Clint's aim was accurate as ever and the buttered bread bopped the genius on the forehead before sliding down in a rather messy way. Blaine bit on his lip to hide a smile. Clint tipped his head in Blaine's direction before gathering up the dirty dishes. Tony narrowed his eyes at the archer but didn't retaliate or complain. Now that was interesting.

"And on that note, I think I'm going to tell Happy that I'm ready for school now."

"Oh no you don't, kiddo. I'm definitely coming with you now. I'm staying around for a few days and I want to get to know your friends."

"Dad, you never want to know my friends."

"Not true. You just never had any friends worth knowing." Blaine furrowed his brow as he tried to think of a counter argument for that one. There was none. Damn his life before McKinley was kind of sad. Tony flicked him on the arm. "Don't feel so bad. Besides Rhodey, Pep and Happy, I didn't actually have any friends worth knowing before these guys came along either."

Blaine nodded accepting the sentiment behind the words. Still he and his father shared a lot in common besides a lack of strong interpersonal communication skills. They were both sarcastic and emotion phobic. Blaine smirked, clapping his father on the arm. "That was quite possibly the sweetest thing I've ever heard you say, dad. Remind me to call Uncle Rhodey and let him know how you feel about him."

Tony rolled his eyes but smiled anyway. "Shut up and get in the damn car."

Blaine laughed and followed through with his father's command. He bid goodbye to the rest of the Avengers and followed Happy out to the car with his father following behind soon after. As they drove the short distance to Puck's house, Blaine couldn't help but feel that today was going to be a good day. And it only got better once he spotted Puck and Sam standing at the end of the driveway waiting for them to pull up. Blaine had to laugh as Puck tried his best to hold Sam back from all but hurling himself at Tony.

But if Sam's exuberant reaction to just meeting Tony was amusing, the spastic response to Tony's invitation to the two boys (and an extension to Santana and Brittany as well) to come by the house that afternoon just solidified Blaine's feeling that today was going to be an awesome day. He had his father (and his father's new friends) as well as new friends of his own. Blaine wasn't about to let the unresolved tension between him and Kurt as well as his father's curious reaction to Puck get to him. Although that last part was a concern. When they first got in the car, Tony kept staring at Puck. When he was finally called on it, Tony mumbled something about Puck seeming familiar but he had no idea why. But Puck didn't mind, so Blaine let it go….. For now. He knew his father. He would either figure out who it was or he would lose interest and find something else to focus on. So Blaine let it go.

Happy let them out a few blocks away from the school. So far only the members of New Directions knew that Tony was his father and honestly Blaine was looking to make sure it stayed that way. And so they sacrificed getting dropped off at the door to protect Blaine's identity. Blaine didn't mind the short walk as they filled the time by teasing Sam for his instant descent into a fanboy in the presence of Tony. Blaine was enjoying the blush that filled Sam's cheeks as he loudly protested his friends' comments. That might have explained why he missed that the parking lot of the school was a lot more crowded than usual. But he would've been an idiot to miss the gaggle of reporters that were suddenly in his face as they approached the front doors of the school.

"Blaine, Blaine, how old were you when you found out that you were Tony Stark's son?"

"Blaine, do you know where your father is now?"

"Blaine, how do you feel knowing your father saved the world?"

Blaine felt a chill race down his spine. They knew. They knew who he was. These reporters knew who he was. He glanced around the parking lot. There were news trucks from almost every single news channel he could think of. Not to mention the gawking students watching the scene with wide eyes. He felt overwhelmed. He was frozen to the spot. How the hell did this happen? The reporters kept closing in on him until he finally felt two separate sets of hands gripping his elbows and pushing him through the still questioning reporters. The hands kept him moving until they were inside the school building. He looked up to see Sue and Will standing in front of them.

"Always knew there was something special about you," Sue murmured as she moved around the three teens and walked outside to yell at the reporters still clamoring to get in the school. Will motioned for Sam and Puck to bring Blaine into the choir room where they could have a modicum amount of privacy. They found Santana and Brittany already waiting in the room.

"What the hell is going on?" Puck asked once they were in the room with the doors locked. "How did the press find out about Blaine's dad?" Santana raised an eyebrow and glared in Puck's direction. It said something about the growing bond between the five friends that Blaine knew the usually fiery Latina wasn't pissed at Puck. Puck knew too as he merely nodded before frowning. "Oh, you're freaking kidding me."

"What?" Blaine finally asked. "Who was it?"

Brittany pulled him into a hug and whispered the name that Blaine suspected but had seriously hoped she would never say. "It was Kurt."

"No," Blaine protested, though he really didn't feel it. "Why would… why would he do that? To me? Why would he do that to me?"

"Jealousy? He's a spoiled asshole? He can't see past his own butt hurt feelings about not being in the know? Who knows who cares?" Santana hissed. "But I do know that Porcelain has been cruising for a serious beat down for years and I'm more than willing to give it to him."

Puck draped an arm around her shoulders. "Relax, Rocky. I think this is more Blaine's fight than ours, wouldn't you? Let's see what he wants to do before you start beating the world down."

"I totally would," Santana muttered against Puck's shoulder. He hugged her closer. "Why do you only hug me when I want to hurt people?"

"Why do you always want to hurt people?"

"Valid point. Continue hugging."

Blaine snickered softly at the slight return to normalcy. He took a deep breath and tried to settle his very rattled nerves.

"So what do you want to do, Blaine?" Will asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I talked to Principal Figgins. He and Sue are going to make sure that the press is kept out of the school. You'll be safe here."

"No, I really won't," Blaine laughed slightly hysterical. "Because if reporters are here then that means a lot more people than just the school know. That means that any minute now…." he trailed off as his phone rang. "My dad is going to find out." His friends winced out of sympathy and moved slightly away to give him a moment to talk to his father. "Hey, dad."

"_Hey, dad? Hey, dad? That's all you have to say? Your face is all over TMZ right now_."

"Like father like son?"

"_Kid, I normally appreciate your ability to laugh in the face of tragedy but now is not the time_," Tony chided. "_What the hell happened?" _

"Kurt happened. Apparently he blabbed to somebody about you and now everyone knows I'm your son."

"_I'm coming to get you. Pepper is already working on controlling the media. We can figure out how to slow the damage down at school_."

"Dad, the damage is done. Everyone knows who I am already. Leaving now is pointless. It's not going to make anything any less insane."

"_It's not the media that I'm worrying about."_

"I know. But it's cool. I've got my friends. Santana has already declared blood vengeance on Kurt. Pretty sure that goes for any other student that messes with me as well."

"Damn straight it does," Santana murmured. Puck snorted in agreement. Blaine grinned.

"I'm ok, dad. I promise. I'm just going to suck it up and deal with the crap. It's not going to be any easier tomorrow. So I might as well deal with it now."

There was a moment of silence before Tony sighed. "_I don't where you got this maturity from. Definitely not me or your mother but I admit I'm impressed_."

"I think you underestimate yourself, dad. But thanks."

"_You try and stick out the day but if it gets too much for you to deal with, you call me. I'll be there to pick you up. All of you. I'll definitely be there to pick you up this afternoon. And your friends are definitely coming with us_."

"Yeah, they are," Blaine agreed, glancing up at his friends. "We'll see you at three o'clock." He paused. "And dad?"

"_Yeah?"_

"Don't blow up my house trying to upgrade the security, ok?"

Tony sniggered. "_You know me so well. Oh and tell your cliques to come hungry. There are currently about two dozen cookies in the oven with plenty more rolling out. Apparently the Hawk stress bakes. This is really good to know given the high amount of emo he's going through at the moment_."

"You have issues, father."

"_No shit, Sherlock. I'll see you later. Go learn something_."

With that Tony hung up and Blaine pocketed his phone once again. He felt slightly less on the edge after talking to his father. He knew that Pepper would have the media situation under control in a matter of hours. No, the real struggle was going to be school. And he thought that he just being openly gay and in the glee club was enough of a reason to be a target at school. Add in there the son of a billionaire genius superhero and yeah… this was not going to be pleasant. He glanced up at the four smirking teenage faces and faintly bemused teacher. Yeah, it wasn't going to be pleasant for anyone that messed with Blaine that day.

* * *

><p>Blaine sighed with relief as the final bell for the day rang. It had been rough but not nearly as terrible as he imagined. That was definitely due to the support of not only his self appointed quartet of bodyguards but also the unwavering support of most of the other glee kids. He had first period that morning with Artie, Sam, Tina and Rory. He already knew that Brittany, Santana, Puck and Sam were on his side but he was pleasantly surprised to know that Artie was as well. Artie didn't treat him any differently. Rory and Tina were slightly awed but for the most part willing to act as deflectors when the scrutiny of the other students got to be too much. And they weren't the only ones. For the most part, the other gleeks were definitely on board with pretending that nothing was different as well as fending off the rest of the curious student body. Blaine was quietly grateful but still more than a little excited for the final bell. He could finally leave the building without having to deal with the rest of the students.<p>

"Finally, freedom!" Sam cheered jumping off the desk where he was previously seated keeping Blaine company in the empty classroom. Blaine managed a wan smile for his friend. "Why the long face? We made it through the day just fine. Santana only had to threaten one reporter. No one got detention or expelled. See it was a good day!"

Blaine snorted. "You're only like this because you're about to meet Captain America."

"It's only because we're friends that I will admit that… yes, yes I am. No shame in my game," Sam winked even as he danced towards the doors of the school. It was a much easier trip this time. They didn't have to deal with the throngs of gawking students that seemed to be following Blaine all day. They were more than halfway to the door when Blaine realized that he didn't have his history textbook. He really contemplated just leaving but they had their final that week. He couldn't afford to pass up one day of studying.

"Hey, I'll meet you outside," Blaine said, halting his and Sam's journey to the doors. The blonde gave him a quizzical look. "I left my History text in my locker. I'm just going to grab and meet you outside. Happy and Dad should be here any minute now."

"I'll come with you."

"Dude, I think I'll be fine." He threw a hand up in the air and gestured passively around the empty halls. "Everyone else has gone home already. I'll be out soon."

Sam sighed heavily causing his bangs to blow with the breeze. "Fine but if you're not outside in five minutes, I'm totally giving Santana clearance to come in here and get you."

"Agreed," Blaine laughed. "I'll be right back."

"Whatever," Sam grinned before resuming the journey to the parking lot while Blaine headed back to his locker.

He really wasn't surprised to find Kurt leaning against his locker. He was actually shocked that Kurt hadn't tried to approach him sooner. Then again, he doubted that would've worked. Rachel seemed to be as annoyed with Kurt as Santana and was keeping him on a pretty tight leash during the day. Only Rachel didn't seem to be around and neither were the rest of the Blaine protection crew. Didn't that just figure?

"Do you mind? I need to get in my locker," Blaine said flatly.

"Why are acting like this?" Kurt asked, though he did move away from the locker. "You've been ignoring me all day. What's wrong with you?"

"You're serious right now? You opened your big mouth to the wrong person and now the whole damn world knows about me."

"What's the big deal? Unless your dad was hiding you because he doesn't like you being gay." Blaine couldn't help the growl that escaped his lips in that moment. His hands clenched into fists as his side.

"That's the last time you say anything about my father. Don't presume that you have the only father that accepts you just the way you are. You don't know a damn thing about Dad."

"You're right. I don't know a damn thing about your father seeing as how I just learned yesterday that he is your father! Why didn't you tell me?! Don't you trust me?"

"Oh my god, do you even hear yourself when you talk?" Blaine asked incredulously. "Ever since yesterday, you've been making this about you. Newsflash, it's not about you. I watched my father almost die yesterday. Actually, scratch that. According to Captain Rogers and Dr. Banner he did die for a little while. And yet you, my supposedly loving boyfriend, have yet to ask me if I'm ok with any of that. Because I'm not. I'm not ok. So I'm so sorry that in the midst of thinking that I might down the only parent that actually cares about me that my first thought was not of you and your feelings about Tony Stark being my father."

Kurt let a slow exhale. "I'm sorry. You're right. It's just… I've told you things about me. I thought that you trusted me. But I was wrong. Because it might have been terrible timing yesterday but the fact still remains that you could've told me before then. I shouldn't have had to find out that way."

Blaine laughed humorlessly. "Either you're really dumb or you're being purposely oblivious but I guess I have to spell this out for you. My dad is a superhero. He's also super rich and used to make his money off of weapons manufacturing. It's actually the old family business. When my dad was growing up, he was subjected to numerous kidnapping attempts not to mention actual successful kidnapping incidents. He never wanted that for me or for Cooper. So he let us grow up in anonymity. Anonymity that you just sacrificed because you're butt hurt about not knowing something that you should be lucky that I even considered telling you in the future." Kurt opened his mouth to say something but Blaine cut him off.

"I see now that I was right to hesitate with telling you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go. My dad is probably here already. And apparently there are cookies!"

With that Blaine spun on his heels and stalked away from his boyfriend. Though he seriously doubted that was going to be a thing much longer. He always knew that Kurt could be a little self centered at times but this? He tried to shrug the negative thoughts off and remember that today was supposed to be a good day. One little talk with Kurt and all of that positive cheer went right down the drain.

He pushed the double doors that led to the school parking lot with a world weary sigh. Maybe he should've stuck to his rule of not getting attached. Or maybe Kurt was right and he should've told him about his connection to Tony. He really was going to but there never seemed like a right time. And he just couldn't anticipate what Kurt's reaction would be.

"Guess I know now," he muttered. He idly scanned the parking lot for signs of a sign of Happy, his father or Sam. He didn't know why he bothered actually looking. He heard them long before he saw them. Sam's excited voice echoed across the nearly empty lot as did Santana's infectious and mocking giggles.

He strolled in that direction and was surprised to see Brittany, Santana and Sam standing opposite Tony and Steve. Happy was nowhere in sight and instead of the limo, his father was leaning up against the SUV he saw parked in the garage this morning. Interesting. As they were all occupied with laughing at Sam's fanboy antics combined with Steve's blushing acceptance, none of them noticed his approach. Well, none save for his father. Tony quickly abandoned his post against the car to move to Blaine's side.

"Why the long face?"

"Just talked to Kurt.

"Kurt, the guy you're dating?"

"Kurt, the guy that blew up my whole world this morning and still refuses to acknowledge that he was wrong in any way."

Tony hummed slipping an arm around Blaine. "Don't stress this too much, kid. I'm sure he'll come around eventually."

"I guess," Blaine murmured. He wasn't as sure as his father. He really didn't think Kurt was going to come around that easily. He also wasn't sure that he was going to care if Kurt did come around soon. He took a deep breath and focused on his friends. "Wait, where's Puck?"

"Oh, Coach Bieste wanted to see him," Brittany answered as father and son drifted closer. "Something about the last test he took."

Blaine and Sam immediately exchanged concerned looks. They knew that Puck was counting on getting a passing grade on that test. A passing grade meant that he had a chance to graduate. Brittany somehow made it through the grace of some deity and would be graduating after all. Blaine didn't know what it would do to Puck if he found out that he was the sole senior member of the glee club that wouldn't be graduating this year. He really hoped that Shannon had good news for Puck. He got his answer sooner than he thought. A few minutes later, the doors opened once again this time revealing Puck.

The older teen walked towards them with his eyes downcast staring at a piece of paper in his hands. Blaine couldn't read his expression. He didn't look sad but he didn't look happy either. He looked to Sam and Brittany to see if they had any indication. Both blondes were chewing on their lips anxiously. Great they were of no help. Finally Blaine settled on Santana. She was staring at Puck with narrowed eyes. Finally her lips twitched upwards and she clapped her hands together. Almost as if he were waiting for one of them to figure it out, Puck glanced up with the widest smile Blaine had ever seen on him.

"So guess whose graduating?!"

"Yes!" Brittany, Blaine and Sam chorused.

"I knew you could do it," Santana smiled at him.

"I'm glad you did because I had no clue," Puck retorted, earning a smack on the arm from Santana and Brittany. He laughed and dodged away from the two girls. It was then that he noticed the two Avengers standing by the side. "Oh, hey. Right, hello Mr. Stark."

"I told you to call me Tony already," Tony said with a grin. "Congratulations on graduating, Puck. And allow me to introduce Captain Awesome. Steve, this is Noah Puckerman. Noah Puckerman, this is the Capsicle."

Puck stuck his hand out in greeting to Steve but the gesture was unreturned. Instead Steve seemed to be staring at him with intensity. Puck dropped his hand to his side and looked back at Steve warily. "What?"

Steve shook his head. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that… your eyes."

"What about them?"

"They just reminded me of someone that's all. Sorry. It's really nice to meet you." Steve held his hand out to Puck now and smiled brightly when the teen shook his hand firmly.

Out the corner of his eye Blaine could see his father staring blatantly between Puck and Steve. He could practically see the gears in his father's brain working over time. There was something about Steve and Puck that was grabbing Tony's attention and Blaine knew that he wasn't going to rest until he figured out what it was. Blaine made a silent prayer that all parties would emerge from this with their sanity in check. He watched as Tony continued to build theories silently before shaking his head as if physically dislodging the ideas. He clapped his hands together.

"Alright, let's get this party on the road, shall we?"

"Wait, where's Happy?"

"He flew back to Malibu to help Pepper with dealing with the whole I have a kid thing," Tony shrugged. Blaine gave him a look. "Whatever. All I know is that your delightfully insane cheerleading friend here has promised to teach Steve how to the use the internet. If this doesn't get Barton to laugh then I don't know what it's going to take."

Blaine gasped in mock surprise. "Oh my god, you care! You actually do care about someone who is not me, Coop, Pepper or Uncle Rhodey!"

"Shut your filthy heathen mouth, I do not!"

"You so do!" Blaine countered with a maniacal grin. "I'm gonna start calling him Uncle Clint."

"You're out of my will."

"Yeah right, Pepper will never let that happen."

Tony paused. "Why is it that my girlfriend likes my kid more than me?"

"Experience?" Steve suggested with a shrug.

Tony glared before pulling the car keys out of Steve's hands. "And just for that, you don't get to drive anymore."

"But you promised."

"Well that was before I remembered that we were driving with my kid and four other kids I'm semi responsible for while they're in my car. We all know how it ends with you driving. There might not be any icebergs around but there are plenty of ditches."

"I resent that, Tony. It was one time."

"That lasted for seventy years!" Tony countered, already climbing in the car and ignoring Steve's protests. Blaine cracked a smile as they continued to bicker. They saved the world just the day before but that didn't stop them from acting like children.

As he settled in the backseat between Brittany and Santana, Blaine felt his earlier happy mood returning. Despite everything, this was turning out to be a pretty good day anyway.

"And stop calling me Capsicle!"

"Don't let him get to you, Uncle Steve. It's just his way of showing that he cares."

"I will find a way to disown you, Blaine. Pepper is not the boss of me."

"Yes, she is."

"No, she…." Tony trailed off before sighing. "Yeah, she is."

* * *

><p>*The end for now!<p> 


	3. Fondue for Two

**Summary:** As Iron Man flew towards the Chitauri portal he had only one person on his mind: his youngest son, Blaine Anderson. Blaine has always been Tony's best kept (read only) secret. He really should've known that one little phone call was going to change everything. But what he didn't know was that he wasn't the only Avenger whose life was going to change.

**Pairings**: Established Vague!Clintasha, Pepperony, Klaine, Finnchel. Pucktana, Puckleberry, Brittana, Pezberry friendships. And as always, Blamman bromance with The Science Bros and their plus one (Clint).

**Warnings**: Language, I guess, because I have a potty mouth damn it. Also a strong possibility for crackish behaviors, Sam being a fangirl and Kurt bashing. Spoilers for _The Avengers_ and up to season four of _Glee_.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except typos! Those are definitely all mine. This is set at the end of the season three of _Glee_ and the end of _The Avengers_.

**Author's Note****: **This is the quickest turnaround on a chapter I've had for a while. I got struck with a little inspiration this week. I had a couple of days off while I attended a funeral. But I think I've got an idea of where this is headed, well for a few chapters at least. Hope you enjoy this one. It's not as long as last chapter but I hope that it still entertains. Ciao for now!

* * *

><p><strong>Fondue for Two<strong>

When Tony Stark was twenty one years old, his first son was born. Ok, so Cooper wasn't biologically his son but he was his child in every other way. Tony was there for all of Cooper's firsts: first words, steps and crushes. And even after Annette left him, Tony was there to hear about a lot of Cooper's other firsts. He loved Cooper and proudly called him his son. But it was obvious from the minute that Cooper opened his sky blue eyes that he would be his mother's son. And he was a carbon copy of Annette. Right down to the histrionics and delusions of grandeur. He loved the boy but damn he couldn't act.

But it was more than just his very, very bad acting skills (seriously, they were bad), Cooper was different in that he was content to accept the world as it was. He was fine with not knowing everything. While Tony may have had his fair share of daddy issues growing up (Oh, ok, maybe it was more than his fair share but whatever), he knew that he inherited Howard's innate sense of curiosity and the need to examine and disassemble. He never really got how fulfilling that must have been for Howard until he realized he would never share that with Cooper. He would never be able to replicate some of the few and far between happy moments he had with his father with his own son. And then he met Blaine.

When he was in that godforsaken cave in Afghanistan, there were only three thoughts keeping him motivated to not give in. He had to get back to Rhodey, Pepper and Happy. He had to be a better father to Cooper and accept the things that made them different. And most importantly, he had to shut down the weapons manufacturing at Stark Industries because he saw what his weapons could do and he couldn't live like that anymore. It took two weeks after the was rescued to get him on the path to making things right with Cooper, but he finally managed to make it to Lima, Ohio where Cooper lived with his mother, her new husband and their son. Cooper wasn't always the most forthcoming when it came to talking about his little brother. He would start to tell Tony something about Blaine but then he would get a distant look in his eye and quickly move on. He promised himself that one day he was going to go and finally meet the damn kid so he could figure out what the big deal was.

Whatever he thought he was going on with Cooper's brother it definitely wasn't what he actually found. He was definitely not expecting to open the door and find a teenager with his eyes, his smile and the same mop of unruly curls Tony used to sport before Pepper introduced him to the wonder of hair gel. He could tell the kid was just as surprised to see him as Tony was but there was a hint of something in those eyes that showed that Blaine wasn't _that_ surprised. Twenty minutes and a fainting spell (Annette really needed to stop with the damn dramatics) later, the whole story was out for everyone. Tony wasn't just a stepfather. He was an actual biological father to a son he knew nothing about but fortunately his son knew a little bit about him. And it seemed that Blaine definitely got his brains from his father.

From the minute Tony met Blaine for the first time thirteen years after he was born, he was in love. He would give up everything if the kid asked him to. Thankfully he knew Blaine never would. Blaine's equivalent of Disney World was going to his father's workshop in Malibu. Blaine was definitely his son. Right down to the inquisitive nature and awkward inability to form lasting connections with people. Tony admitted he was happy when Blaine told him that he made his first real friend later turned boyfriend in Kurt Hummel. He never wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. But then the more Blaine would talk, the more Tony would worry. It didn't sound like the relationship between Kurt and Blaine was… healthy. He didn't like how his son seemed to be changing himself to fit in better with Kurt. He worried about Blaine and he planned to address it this summer when the kid came to stay with him in Malibu. But it seemed like that was no longer an issue. He wasn't kidding earlier. He was proud of Blaine. He knew how hard it was for the kid to open up but it seemed like he found a good bunch this time around.

"So how many knives _do_ you have on you right now?"

Tony raised an eyebrow and looked away from his bickering sons to Santana who was sitting on a window seat next to Natasha in the crowded Anderson (really Stark because he bought the damn house) living room. Tony wanted to be surprised that Santana and Natasha clicked but he wasn't. He paid attention when Blaine talked. And every story he heard about Santana Lopez fit the description of a younger and less disciplined Natasha. It seemed the redhead was of a similar belief as she had taken to the young woman almost instantly. Tony made a mental note to watch that one a little bit more closely. He definitely did not want calls from other parents complaining about his team teaching their children how to better and more discreetly pack heat. He glanced around the room to see how the other teens were faring.

Brittany was harassing Bruce much to the amusement of Clint who was perched on the top of Annette's ugly ass china cabinet that was a present from her grandmother or something. Tony was not sad to see that thing go when Annette left him. The teen was poking Bruce in an attempt to meet the Hulk in person. Tony would be concerned about that but if Bruce could resist hulking out when faced with Tony at his most annoying, then he could definitely handle a teenage cheerleader. He then turned his attention to Sam, who was simply content with following Steve around. Steve, on the other hand, was focused solely on Puck. There was definitely something going on between them. Tony knew there was something about Puck when he first met the young man that morning. He seemed familiar in a strange way. And looking at him opposite Steve, that feeling only got stronger. There was definitely something going on there and Tony was not leaving Lima, Ohio until he figured it out. Hell, who was he kidding? He probably wasn't going to get to the end of the day without at least attempting to figure it out.

Thankfully he got an opportunity when it came time for the other teens to leave. Cooper offered to give them a ride back to their respective houses. Tony didn't bother to hide the laugh as Blaine ordered his brother to refrain from trying to sleeping with any of his friends. It was moments like this that made Tony really regret not getting the chance to watch the two of them growing up together. The last four years had been hilarious enough. He could only imagine the pair of them when they were very young. He shook off the thoughts. He had plenty of time to mourn his lost years with Blaine and Cooper later. Right now he had a mystery to solve.

"Oh, Capsicle, a word please?"

Steve gave him an annoyed look even as he headed in Tony's direction in the dining room. The younger/older man smirked in their leader's face. Steve narrowed his eyes. "What? Am I supposed to know what you're thinking, Stark?"

"Just wondering if you were always attracted to teenage boys or if this is something that started after you got thawed out."

Steve spluttered, turning several brilliant shades of red. Really, the man needed to loosen up already. At this rate, Steve's delicate 40's born sensibilities were more likely to kill him than an alien invasion or hostile foreign threat.

"Relax, Steve. I'm kidding, kind of. Just wondering what's up with you and Puckerman? You seem a little… obsessed with the kid."

"I'm not obsessed," Steve countered. "And why do you even care?"

"Because my son, who up until this day has made a total of one friend in his seventeen years of existence, has decided that Puckerman and the others are his best friends for life. Fortunately this appears to be a mutual thing or else who knows what level I would have to sink down to in order make that a mutual thing. But at any rate, Puckerman appears to be near and dear to my son's heart and that makes him near and dear to mine."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "And the other reason?"

"This thing where I remind you of my father, that needs to stop being a thing."

Steve laughed. "Yeah, well, if it helps you feel better I can already see signs of you in Blaine."

Tony smiled softly. That kind of did make him feel better. "Well, the other reason is that when he first got in the limo this morning, I felt something about him. He seemed familiar. And then you were staring at him too. I was hoping that whatever you're feeling could help me understand what it was that I was feeling."

Steve looked hesitant for a moment before sighing. "It's his eyes. They're the exact same shade of hazel as my mother."

"Oh," Tony mumbled. Steve nodded, letting out a slow exhale. "And you don't have any surprise siblings from your mother? Maybe the kid is a nephew or something."

"No siblings. I was the first and only for my mother. She died when I was really young. And she was an only child."

"Right," Tony hesitated with his next question. "You didn't leave behind any nine month packages… did you?"

"No!" Steve protested, looking more than a little offended. Though that faded into a pensive look and the flush was back in his cheeks. "At least I don't think I did."

"I thought you were a… you know."

"I am not having this conversation with you, Stark. But for the record, no I'm not. Peggy and I… but it was only one time!"

"One time is all it takes, CaptainCan't Keep It in His Pants." Tony crossed his arms over his chest in thought. "So there is a possibility that this kid could actually be related to you."

"I thought about it, but there's no real way to tell. It's not like I can just call Peggy up and ask her, now can I?"

"Peggy? Like Peggy Carter?" Blaine asked as he passed the two chatting men on his way back from the kitchen. He had a glass of milk in one hand and a plate of Clint's double chocolate cookies in the other. Tony started to say something about ruining his appetite for dinner but vetoed that in favor of snagging a couple of the cookies. They were delicious. Blaine glared but let it go. "You were talking about Peggy Carter, right? That's Puck's great grandmother."

"Noah was related to Peggy Carter?" Steve asked, his voice tight.

"He still is," Blaine replied, balancing the plate so he could steal a cookie off the top and bite into it. "He was telling us yesterday that once a year he and his little sister, Sarah, used to take the trip out to see their great grandmother Peggy who lives in a nursing home. They would go with their Nana Sarah. That was Puck's grandmother. His sister was named after her and she was named after her own grandmother. Sarah is a popular name in that family apparently. Anyway they used to go out there all the time before his grandmother died a couple of years ago. Now they sometimes go with Darcy when she's not being the 'world's weirdest intern' according to Puck."

"Sarah? She was named after her grandmother, Sarah?" Steve repeated with an unreadable expression on his face. Blaine narrowed his eyes but was distracted by his efforts to devour an entire plate of cookies before he even made it to his room. Tony really loved that kid. Then Tony picked up on what Blaine just said.

"Wait, Darcy, as in Darcy Lewis?" Blaine paused mid chew and nodded. "Darcy the intern is also Puck's cousin," Tony grinned, slightly enjoying the green tint building in Captain Perfect's face. "That's the girl that Thor told us about. The one that tazed him."

"Puck's cousin sounds awesome," Blaine mumbled. "Can't wait till she comes up for his graduation at the end of the month."

Tony snickered. She did sound pretty awesome. But there was a bigger picture that everyone seemed to be missing. "What are the odds that my kid ends up friends with the cousin of Thor's girlfriend's intern? And coincidentally they both happen to be the great grandchildren of your one night stand?"

"Wait, one night stand? You had sex with Puck's great grandmother?!" Blaine asked all mock innocence. He clearly knew where Tony was going with this. Damn, he loved this kid. "Well, it makes sense. Puck did tell us that his cousin always thought you guys had a thing. Guess she was right."

"Sounds like she was. Weird that of her great grandchildren, one of them has your mother's eyes and his kid sister is named after her grandmother (Peggy's daughter). That name, of course, being Sarah. And Sarah was also named after her grandmother. That's your mother's name too, right? That's a lot of coincidences. Don't you think, Capsicle?"

"I, uh, I," Steve trailed off before spinning on his heels and stumbling blindly out the dining room and towards the living room. Tony waited until the super soldier was out of hearing distance to give into the urge to giggle. He heard an echoing snicker beside him.

"You're still a jerk, dad."

"I try, kid. I try." Tony sat down at the table and pushed a chair out for Blaine in an unspoken invitation to sit. "So I've been thinking."

"Did you hurt yourself?"

"Definitely got that sense of humor from your mother and no, brat. As I was saying, I've been thinking. This little break is fun so far and I think it's only going to get more fun. But eventually I'm going to have to go back. I think based off our little performance that they're going to want the Avengers to be more of a thing…. and personally, I think that it should."

"Careful, your caring is showing again," Blaine teased, reading between the lines of what his father wasn't saying… per the usual.

"You're so annoyingly mine," Tony laughed. "What I'm saying is that…. maybe you should come back with me. You can pick where. Malibu or New York, it's up to you entirely. But maybe you should leave with me. Finish off school wherever."

"You serious?"

"Yeah, I mean the world knows who you are now. What's the point of continuing to try and hide you now? They obviously know where you go to school. And seems like every time I turn my head your mom and stepfather are off on some globetrotting adventure. It's not safe for you to be alone anymore. Especially not with your crap security."

"How did you have time to think about this while also harassing Uncle Steve?"

"I'm excellent at multitasking."

"You're excellent at something," Blaine retorted with a grin. Tony countered this by stealing another one of his cookies. The plate was getting a little empty. Served the brat right. Also there were like a hundred more left in the kitchen. They really needed to address Clint's obvious mental health before he baked them all into a diabetic coma. But one step at a time. He would deal with their archer in a minute.

"So what do you say? You want to try living with your old man?"

"Will there be cookies?" It seemed that Tony wasn't the only one who spoke volumes in a few words. Tony understood exactly what Blaine was asking.

Tony paused, really thinking that one through. He knew when he made this offer to Blaine that it wasn't going to just be an invitation to live with him. He was inviting him to have a chance at a real family. And that included his apparent new favorite uncles. Tony smiled softly.

"Yeah, pretty sure there will be cookies."

Blaine nodded thoughtfully. "Let me finish up the school year. I've got until the end of the month. We can talk about it then, ok?"

Tony was more than fluent in his son. He knew that the kid was definitely moving in and really only going to use that time to figure out a way to drag his new friends with him. Tony was strangely alright with that. He leaned forward, ruffling his son's ungelled hair. He was briefly reminded of the thirteen year old that was lost in his own skin. Blaine came a long way from that. Now he was seventeen and had friends that actually seemed like him for more than just the superhero family member. Tony really was proud.

"We can definitely talk at the end of the month. Now go finish your homework or something." He reached forward and stole the plate with the remaining three cookies. "And stop ruining your appetite for dinner. Apparently Bruce is making some kind of stew. It's a recipe he picked up on the run that only he, Natasha and Clint even begin to understand. I don't exactly know what it is but it made Natasha start drooling. So it's got to be good."

"Sounds awesome. I'll be back down in like an hour. I think I'm pretty ready for my history final but I just need to go over my notes again." Blaine paused. "You think Uncle Steve will be over his potential Maury moment in time to answer some questions about the war?"

"Probably not but we can force him to talk. After all what are uncles for, right?"

Blaine laughed and picked up his glass of milk. He also pulled a cookie from god only knew where. The kid smirked before sauntering out the room. Yup, Tony may be incredibly and totally biased but he was pretty sure that kid was the best thing he had done with his life so far.

Tony sat back in his seat and smiled. The irony of the situation was not lost on him. He was barely considered an appropriate candidate for the Avengers Initiative in the beginning. He honestly didn't care at the time. He didn't work well with others. He was self-absorbed and probably a whole bunch of other psychobabble terms. But then aliens invaded New York and now he was holed up in Lima, Ohio with a bunch of superheroes (one of which he didn't even think was real) and his sons. His sons who he managed to keep a secret for so long but had no qualms discussing with people he met less than a week ago. At the time all he was thinking was that he needed to talk to Blaine. He thought he was going to die and he couldn't do that without Blaine knowing for sure that he was loved. Tony knew that Cooper knew but Blaine….

That's how it started but Tony still didn't mind. He was stuck in this bizarrely domestic situation where he was getting to meet his son's friends and giving his sons a few new uncles and an aunt. It seemed so Twilight Zone but when the director of SHIELD personally requested that you get the hell of dodge as soon as possible and kindly take the shattered remains of the agency's best archer with you… well, you tended to do just that. Even if you were Tony Stark because even Tony realized that he owed Fury a huge one after he gave him the tools he needed to save his life. But even if Fury hadn't asked, Tony would've offered once he saw the look of devastation on Clint's face after Natasha broke the news about Phil. It wasn't the look of someone who lost an associate or even a friend. It was the look of someone who lost the closest thing they had to family. In that moment, Tony was able to see past Clint's devil may care attitude and emotional boundaries to see that he was actually younger than he first appeared. It wasn't hard for him to imagine a similar look on Blaine's face just a few hours before. That's why he didn't hesitate to gather the remaining Avengers, load them in a van and use the Quinjet Fury had waiting for them to fly to Lima. He wasn't even surprised to find Happy waiting for them when they landed. SHIELD might not have known about Blaine but Nick Fury clearly did. And Nick Fury was very good at keeping secrets.

Tony figured that Fury was hoping that some down time would help Clint cope and ultimately deal with everything. Especially downtime away from the World Security Council's judgment and the damnation from the rest of SHIELD. Tony was actually starting to hope for the same thing. From the brief flashes that he'd seen over the course of the day, pre-Loki Clint Barton was someone who could probably match Tony in terms of sass and snark. He would do what it took to help get the archer back to that. Even if that meant letting his kid refer to him an as uncle when he was probably the same damn age as Cooper. Wait actually….

"Exactly how old are you, Legolas?" Tony asked, tipping his head back. There was a shuffle slightly above his head. He glanced up to meet a pair of gray blue eyes just over the edge of the fugly china cabinet. "Well?"

"How'd you know I was up here?"

"Never saw you come down," Tony shrugged. "How long you planning on hiding up there anyway?"

"Until I feel like coming down."

"Fair enough. So I assume you heard about Steve's potential baby mama drama. Any insight?"

"I think it's a definite possibility. Every agent who's been through the Academy learns about Agent Carter and the role she played in starting SHIELD. She did have a daughter she was raising as she and your father building the agency. But she never disclosed the father's identity. Most people assumed at the time that she was Howard's kid but then you were born and that got ruled out."

"What did I have to do with that?"

Clint gave him a look. "I know that you and your dad have issues. I get that. But from what I hear, no one at SHIELD was aware of that. Your father talked you up big time. He barely acknowledged Agent Carter's kid. And by that point, she was married with a couple more. SHIELD lost track of the daughter after Agent Carter retired and the only person left that actually cared about the mystery was Fury. He's the one that told me about it."

"How long has Fury been involved with SHIELD?"

"No idea," Clint laughed faintly. "Anytime I asked, I got lectured on respecting my superiors or whatever crap Fury pulled out of his ass at the time." He shook his head. "I guess if we're all still dying to know, I could call Darcy and ask her if she knows anything about this whole Steve and Puck thing."

"You met her?"

Clint shifted some more but Tony was able to see more of his face once he settled down. "I was actually there during the whole Thor thing. I saw him trying to lift the hammer. I was part of the team that confiscated Dr. Foster's research."

"Oh, you mean stole."

Clint glared at him though the corners of his lips twitched. "Yeah, well, I introduced myself to Darcy after she stole her iPod back from Phil. I mean its Phil. He's only second to Nick and some intern managed to steal her iPod back. That was worth an intro. She seemed cool and then when Selvig ended up working with SHIELD, we kept in touch. I gave her updates on Selvig and she kept met updated on the outside world."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought you and Spider Chick were a thing."

Instead of taking offense or rising to the bait, Clint merely smirked before jumping down from the cabinet. He didn't sit at the table but rather on it. They were really going to have to work on his not touching the floor thing he had going on. But first….

"What? Why are you smirking?"

"Nat really hates being called Spider Chick."

Tony gave a halfhearted chuckle. "Guess it's a good thing she's not around then, huh."

"Oh, she's around. Here's one thing you should know up front, if you see me, assume she's not that far behind."

"That's both adorable and mildly terrifying." Clint shrugged, looking relaxed for the first time since he met him. Tony took that as a cue to keep pressing. "So you ever going to answer my question?"

Clint's brow furrow. "I believe I did."

"Not that one. The first one I asked. How old are you?"

There was a pause. Tony really thought he wasn't going answer him. And then…. "I turned twenty eight a few days ago."

"Wait, a few days…."

"Yeah," Clint replied, effectively shutting down that conversation.

Tony ran a hand through his hair. "That really sucks. Rough birthday."

"Understatement."

"What did usually do on your birthday when you weren't being brainwashed by a bratty alien god with daddy/brother issues?"

"Well, before SHIELD, I didn't do anything. It never seemed like anything worth celebrating. But after I joined…. Phil… he didn't see it that way. He thought it was important and he wouldn't let me ignore it like I always did. We always celebrated it together. Sometimes he would invite Nick and this other agent, Melinda. And of course Nat was there once she joined our little team."

Tony made a mental note to ask Natasha what they did to celebrate Clint's birthday in the past so they could at least try and make it up to Clint.

"So how long have you been in SHIELD? You're kind of… well… young."

Clint snorted. "Doesn't feel like it sometimes. But to answer your question, I was recruited when I was maybe a few months older than Blaine. That's when Phil showed up in nowhere Middle America and dragged me out of a jail cell. He promised me a chance to do better. At that point anything was better than the twenty five years I was facing."

"A jail cell?"

"Yeah, I robbed a bank with a bunch of carnies. I was not exactly SHIELD's ideal candidate. But Phil didn't care about that. He pulled me out and he wouldn't give up on me no matter how much I threw at him. Although I'm pretty sure that he and Garret had a bet going on. They each went out and found the biggest screw-ups they could possibly find so that they could turn them into agents. Garret found Ward in a juvenile detention center too. He was there after he burned his family's house down."

"Ward sounds charming."

"Ward is creepy. There is something a little off about that guy," Clint retorted. "But yeah, that's my story. Phil recruited me, gave me a chance to be someone and I repaid him by letting him die. This is probably the worst birthday ever. And that includes the time that my dad got drunk and murdered himself and my mom."

Tony flinched at the bitterness he heard in that voice. Clint Barton was very far from okay by any stretch of the imagination. Still, he seemed to be making an effort at talking and being social. And he was opening up a little.

"I know you're probably going to lie or brush it off but… are you ok?"

Clint looked down at his hands before meeting Tony's waiting gaze. "I've been better." He glanced down again before sighing. "Thanks."

"For?"

The archer waved a dismissive hand around the room and shrugged. "All of this. I know that Fury asked you to get me out of there. You didn't have to take us here. You could've took us anywhere but you…. Thanks."

"Dude, this has nothing to do with you. I just wanted to see my kids."

Clint snorted. "Yeah, thanks anyway."

Tony patted him on the knee, knowing that he had reached a milestone with the agent when he wasn't immediately put down for daring to touch him. "You're welcome, Barton."

"I actually have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Why exactly does your son keep calling me Uncle Clint?"

Tony raised an eyebrow. He didn't know that Blaine had actually managed to call him that to his face. His kid was all sorts of awesome. Tony patted Clint on the knee once again before pushing away from the table and rising to his feet smoothly.

"It's because you are his uncle. You, and Steve and Bruce and most likely when he finally gets around to coming back, Thor too. Deal with it." Clint let out a slow breath. Tony was getting faintly familiar with Clint. He knew the archer wasn't upset more like confused. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that... Barney, my brother, we didn't exactly get along after awhile. I don't know he could have a kid by now but I wouldn't know but the thing is... I don't know. It's just that... What exactly does an uncle do?"

Tony stifled the urge to smile at the embarrassed rambling, knowing how much it was costing Clint to keep opening up. He also knew how lucky he was that Clint was opening up to him in the first place. "Hey, don't stress it. Just keep doing what you're doing. Blaine… he's different than Cooper. He's my mini me. He doesn't make friends easily. But when he feels comfortable, he latches on and won't let go. You don't really need to do anything extra with him. But based off our earlier conversation, he might not be the only person calling you Uncle. You might want to get used to it."

"Oh," Clint exhaled, clearly in thought.

Tony gave him one last fond look before leaving him to his thoughts. He was halfway to the room he claimed as his own while they were staying with Blaine when he heard a warm chuckle behind him. He whirled around, only mildly surprised to see Natasha following him.

"You did well with him, Stark," she said, somewhat smiling. "But understand if you ever call me Spider Chick again, I'll rip your balls off and beat you with them." She spun on her heels and walked away towards the kitchen. He could already smell whatever deliciousness Bruce had planned for them cooking.

He knew that this was all going to hit him soon. Not only did people outside of Pepper, Rhodey and Happy know about Blaine and Cooper, the whole world knew. That's in addition to the fact that he died just the day before saving the world from aliens alongside an alien god, two master assassins, the metaphorical albatross from around his father's neck and a giant, green rage monster. And now he was sitting in the house he bought for his ex and living a scarily domestic lifestyle. Yeah, it was all going to hit him and the fallout would likely be epic. But for the moment, he was just content to roll with it. Well, except one thing.

"So going to get that woman a damn bell or something."

"I'd like to see you try!"

Damn it!

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><p>*the end for now! Hope you enjoyed! See you next time!<p> 


	4. Change (In the House of Puckerman)

**Summary:** As Iron Man flew towards the Chitauri portal he had only one person on his mind: his youngest son, Blaine Anderson. Blaine has always been Tony's best kept (read only) secret. He really should've known that one little phone call was going to change everything. But what he didn't know was that he wasn't the only Avenger whose life was going to change.

**Pairings**: Established Vague!Clintasha, Pepperony, Klaine, Finnchel. Pucktana, Puckleberry, Brittana, Pezberry friendships. And as always, Blamman bromance with The Science Bros and their plus one (Clint).

**Warnings**: Language, I guess, because I have a potty mouth damn it. Also a strong possibility for crackish behaviors, Sam being a fangirl and Kurt bashing. Spoilers for _The Avengers_ and up to season four of _Glee_.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except typos! Those are definitely all mine. This is set at the end of the season three of _Glee_ and the end of _The Avengers_.

**Author's Note****: **I'm on a roll with this story! I'm proud of myself, lol. Also this story is pretty much writing itself here. So that's a bonus. Also I'm dedicating this chapter to Loki Firefox for making me giggle when I read her review. I definitely needed that laugh this week. I will never keep stories from you again! Thanks so much. And a big thanks to everyone else who reviews as well. Your reviews are boosts to my work damaged ego. So thank you so much. Love you guys. Hope you enjoy!

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><p><strong>Change (In the House of Puckerman)<strong>

Its funny how drastically life can change in just one week. A week ago, Puck was on friendly terms with Sam and Blaine while working on slowly repairing his neglected friendship with Santana. A week ago, he didn't think he had a chance in Hell of graduating. A week ago, superheroes were things that in only existed in comic books and movies and Darcy's excited beer fueled ramblings. But that was a week ago. Now he was like best friends for life with Sam Blaine, Brittany and Santana. He was definitely graduating high school. And he has spent almost every afternoon for the past week with a group of superheroes. Oh, what a difference a week can make. Too bad it couldn't change his family situation. Nothing short of a miracle or an act of god was likely to change that one. And despite having the above mentioned superheroes around, none of them appeared to be gods (though he would look into that once Thor came back).

"What's wrong?"

Puck snapped out of his thoughts, not at all surprised to find Santana standing in front of him. They were the only pair in the otherwise empty choir room. Everyone else had long cleared out but he knew that Sam, Brittany and Blaine were most likely waiting for them as they had every day for the past week. Puck straightened up, shocked that his thoughts had kept him behind so long that Santana Lopez had to come after him. Then again, he wasn't really. This was Santana. She knew him. And he knew her. Right now, her brow was furrowed with concern but the hands on her hips told him everything he needed to know about trying to lie to her. So he didn't. Besides, it hadn't worked since they were in the fifth grade. And even a mild estrangement in high school couldn't shake that.

"I picked up my graduation tickets this morning."

Santana's expression melted in one of understanding immediately. He loved that she knew him that well. There was only one other person in this world that got him but he had long ago put a stop to thinking about her. He made a promise after all. And he wasn't going to go back on his word even if it broke his heart a little every day.

"Darcy is coming, right?"

"Yeah, she's bringing her friend, Jane. But that's it. My own mother isn't even coming. Sammy and Blaine are already supposed to be sitting in the Hummel-Hudson section. And you and Britt will be up there with me. So I have eight tickets and no one who remotely gives enough of a damn about me to give them to."

Santana let out a soft sigh before wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He reciprocated, resting his arms around her waist and hiding his face in her hair. Santana let out another quiet breath. "It's their loss, babe. Because you're freaking amazing." He felt warmed by her words because he knew that she meant them. Santana was painfully honest and definitely not in the habit of boosting anyone's ego. Even his.

"Why do you only hug me when I'm questioning my self worth and value to the world?"

"Why do you always question your self worth and value to the world?"

"Valid point. Continue hugging."

Santana snickered and then pulled away slightly. "You listen to me, Noah Puckerman. It doesn't matter if you have two or ten people there on graduation day. The thing that you need to take away from this, that you need to hold on to, is that you made it. You did this. You sucked it up and asked for help and managed to get through this hell we call high school. No one can take that from you. Not even your drunken bitch mother or waste of flesh father."

Puck gave her a small smile. "I did make it through, didn't I?

"Yes, you did," she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss against the corner of his lips causing him to smile somewhat. He really missed this closeness. "Now come on. Natasha sent me a text earlier. Apparently Clint totally baked the most amazing chocolate cake in the history of ever and he won't let anyone have any until we all get there despite their best efforts."

Puck raised an eyebrow. "That already sounds insane."

"Oh yeah," Santana drawled, threading her arm around his and steering him out the building. "Let's see, so far Tony has tried everything from straight up begging, whining, extortion and will likely soon be trying to create some awesome mecha thing to get the cake and ultimately destroy it in the process. There was an almost Hulk moment until Clint bought him off with waffles. And Steve tried to just straight up steal the damn thing."

"How'd that work out?'

"He took a paint tipped arrow to the knee."

Puck laughed feeling some of his earlier dark thought fade away. It got a little brighter when they made it outside and met the others. Bruce was their designated pick up for the afternoon and he was standing by as Brittany and Blaine were trying to do… something with a rock, fire and Sam. To say that Bruce was the so called voice of reason, Puck observed that he could be just as insane as the rest of the team. And he was definitely indulgent of anyone related to or otherwise associated with the name Stark. Even when (or maybe especially when) it ended with things blowing up or people being set on fire. Because Sam's jacket was definitely on fire.

"It's stop, drop and roll, Sammy!" Santana jeered. "Not stand around and flail."

Puck rolled his eyes and bypassed his flaming friend and the slightly panicked Brittany and Blaine in order to snag the front seat in the SUV. He glanced out the window to see Blaine trying to put the fire out while the others just stood around and watched. They were insane and random. But somehow in the course of a week, they had become damn near his whole world. He didn't really understand what it was that made them so important but he knew that they were. He needed the four of them in his life.

As they neared Blaine's house, of the Avenger's Mansion as Sam had been calling it, his bad mood returned in full force. He could feel the tickets weighing down in his pocket. He knew he was being ridiculous. First of, they were barely filling up the small envelope they were handed to him in. There was no way they were heavy enough for him to feel. And second, Santana was right. It didn't matter if Darcy and her friend were the only ones that showed up…. Except that it kind of did.

Puck drifted through the front door of the house and straight out the back, missing the concerned looks he earned on his way out. He didn't want to bother anyone with his bad mood and he knew that he couldn't shake it off much longer. So he settled down on the bottom of the porch steps and finally gave into the intensely dark mood that had been clinging to him since he was first handed that stupid envelope earlier in the day.

As it stood, he was the only gleek that wouldn't have most of their family there. Hell between his and Kurt's tickets, Finn still needed more. The act that he immediately (and without a hint of remorse or concern) turned to Puck to demand his extra tickets since, "you know you don't need them" just proved to Puck how far gone that particular friendship was. Thankfully Rachel had intervened telling Finn that Puck's tickets were his to do whatever he wanted with. Even if that was let them go to waste because no one but his cousin and her friend would be there. Finn looked like he was going to argue more but Coach Bieste intervened (bless her heart) and found an excuse to send Puck out of the room and away from Finn before he exploded… or cried. It really could go either way these days.

He didn't even know why he was so disappointed. He knew that his family situation left a lot to be desired. His mother worked ridiculous hours and when she was home, she was definitely not in the running for mother of the year. His father was the textbook definition of the term dead beat dad. His little sister alternated between hero worship for her big brother and total and complete disgust with his entire existence. Her moods shifted so rapidly he had no idea who he would be dealing with when the bus dropped her off after school. Lately she seemed annoyed with his continued need to breathe and live, so yeah, she was definitely out. His father's mother died two years ago and was probably the only grandparent he had that would've shown up in the first place. And don't even get him started on the rest of his aunts, uncles and cousins (from both sides of the family tree). Darcy was the only one he talked to, both by choice and because they wanted nothing to with either of them. Yeah, his family life sucked and in less than three weeks, he was going to have a visual reminder of just how much it sucked. Maybe he could just ditch the ceremony. Maybe he could… eat cake?

He blinked at the sudden chunk of cake that appeared in his hands. He peered up, shielding his eyes with his free hand against the sun to see Clint standing above him. The archer looked pointedly at the cake and the fork waiting in his left hand. Puck did as he was silently told and almost forgot that he was supposed to be sad as the first bite of chocolate touched his tongue. Clint snorted as the content moan that escaped the teen and then plopped down on the back porch steps beside him. Puck turned to face him.

"Where did you find time to learn to cook like this between assassination jobs and fighting off aliens?"

Clint smirked. "Believe it or not the whole alien part is pretty new. So really it was just regular old killing bad people gig before. But to actually answer your question, I learned kind of all over the place. My mom loved to cook and I helped her out as much as I could when I was a kid. Then when Barney and I were at the carnival, Delilah and Debbie, the Siamese twins, helped me get some baking in. They made a mean apple pie. But I guess when I really got into cooking was…. Phil. He, uh, liked to cook too. So yeah, guess you could say that I learned here and there." Clint shrugged. "Plus it helps with stress."

Puck took another bite and nodded thoughtfully. "Not that I want you stressed or anything but I have to say that your hobby kind of rocks and I'm thoroughly enjoying reaping the benefits of it."

Clint let out an amused huff of air and leaned back so that his elbows were resting on the steps behind them. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What helps you with stress?"

Puck picked at the slice of cake. "It used to be music. But that's been reminding me of… a friend that I kind of don't get to talk to so much these days. So I guess I have nothing. I liked drawing when I was a kid but my dad burned all my art stuff when I was seven. He said only 'fags like to draw'. Then he signed me up for football."

"Your dad sounds like a real piece of work."

"He's something."

Silence fell over the pair as Puck continued to eat his cake and watch the setting sun. Finally Clint growled in frustration that morphed into confusion as Puck started laughing.

"Finally going to get to the point, then?"

"You knew?" Clint asked with narrowed eyes and the beginnings of a smile.

"Don't take this the wrong way but you don't seem like the type to randomly strike up conversations without having a reason to. Not to mention Santana and Sam keep looking out the living room window. Reasonably sure that Dr. Banner, Mr. Stark and Blaine are doing the same from the kitchen. I think Natasha is watching too but I don't know if that's concern for me or for you." Puck thought about it. "Probably both."

Clint made a pleased little humming noise even as he nudged the teen with his elbow. "You're good. And you're also right about all of the above. So you want to tell me what's got everyone so worried about you? You're starting to brood more than me. That's a problem."

Puck laughed weakly and shrugged. He then placed his plate to the side to fish out the envelope that had been ruining his day since he got it that morning. Clint raised an eyebrow as he looked at the brightly colored pieces of paper.

"Graduation tickets," Puck murmured around a sigh. "We get ten to give to our friends and families. but I essentially only have two people that like me enough to want to go and one of them doesn't even know me!" he looked away to stare off at the horizon. "It's stupid, I know. Everyone has a lot more serious stuff going on and I'm whining and crying about some stupid graduation tickets."

Clint shifted in place. "But it's not really about the tickets, is it?" Puck looked away, focusing on the horizon once more. His jaw clenched even as he struggled to find the words to answer Clint's question. Finally he let out a slow exhale.

"No, it's not."

"It's about feeling like you're nothing and then finally getting validation that maybe you're not as big of a lost cause as you thought you were. It's about being disappointed that the ones who doubted you and made you feel this way won't be there to see your moment of triumph. You're not upset about the tickets. You're upset because the people that made you feel like you were nothing refuse to go to the one that would prove you were something."

Puck swallowed against the sudden lump forming in his throat. "Yeah… it's, uh, it's exactly like that." He turned to fully face the agent. "How did you know?"

"Don't let this total picture of mental health and emotional stability fool you. It wasn't that long ago that I was exactly like you. My parents died when I was young but before that my dad… he was a piece of work too. Not really sad he's gone. But after that we got placed in one foster home after another and every one of them broke us a little more until we finally escaped to the carnival. I learned how to shave from a bearded lady. A clown taught me how to drive. A lion tamer helped me with my homework."

"Dude, none of that last part even remotely resembles me."

Clint threw him a look, shaking his head. "Is this how Phil feels when he was talking to me? God, he's right. That is annoying as hell."

"You keep mentioning him but who is Phil?"

"Phil is… was… my handler. He's the one that got me out of a jail cell and told me that I could do or be anything I wanted. He offered me the tools I needed to get that done."

"He sounds nice. What happened to him?"

"The invasion," Clint replied shortly. Puck took the hint to lease that topic alone and nodded for Clint to continue. The archer tilted his head in acknowledgement and moved on from thoughts of his deceased handler. "Point is that I know how you feel because before Phil I felt the same exact way."

"But you were still different. You had the carnies to help you do all that stuff. I learned how to shave on my own. I learned how to drive by pretending to be Santana's blind friend that she had to take along with her when she did her driver's Ed lessons because I couldn't afford my own." Clint gave him a look. Puck shook his head. "People in Lima aren't really that bright." Clint nodded. "Anyway, there was no one to help me with my homework. I don't have anyone," Puck's voice cracked on the last sentence. He knew it was the truth. But he never said it out loud. It kind of hurt a little. More than he thought it would for some reason.

"I fought so hard to graduate and for what? I didn't apply to any colleges. I'm never going to get a good job because everyone in this stupid town knows I got arrested so even though my juvenile record will be sealed eventually, they all know and will hold it against me. So I'm going to be stuck in this town working some below minimum wage job until I snap just like my father. I'm going to be just like him like everyone said I would. I really am a Lima loser."

"I have no idea what a Lima loser is but I can kind of guess a little. Doesn't matter anyway. You're not a loser. No one can make you a loser. Only you get to decide if you're a loser or not. You want to get out of this town? Then get out. Leave. Doesn't exactly sound like there is anything keeping you here."

"Where am I supposed to go?! Darcy is still in school. She keeps offering to let me live with her but I can't do that to her. Nana Peggy's other kids hate me and Darcy, so they're out. I have nowhere else to go. And it royally sucks because in a few weeks, I'll have no one in this town but Sammy. Blaine is probably going off with his dad when you guys leave. Santana is going to Kentucky for school. Britt somehow got into MIT, which yeah, I don't even profess to know how that happened. So it's just Sammy. And I can't do that to him. I can't be a burden on him when he's trying to graduate."

He ran a hand through his hair, not surprised that they were faintly trembling. He was surprised when Clint placed a hand over his. He looked up to meet Clint's serious gaze.

"When I was only a little younger than you, I was asking myself those same questions. Who am I? What am I going to do with my life? Because I didn't really see a lot of options presenting themselves to me. Especially after my brother…. yeah, after him. So I took the easy way out and I pulled an armed robbery. Of course it went terribly wrong and ended up with me shooting the guard. And that in itself was a mindfuck. But I got arrested and was facing a minimum of twenty five years for armed robbery and attempted murder. That is until Phil showed up like a nerdy, Super Nanny watching angel and got me to join SHIELD. But Phil isn't here anymore so I'm going to be that guy for you. Minus the Super Nanny. That show is weird. You couldn't pay me to watch kids like that. I'd probably just shoot them."

Puck chose to ignore that last part, mostly because he totally agreed (those kids were definitely hell spawn) but also because really? Clint was actually suggesting that he should apply to SHIELD? Puck supposed that must've showed on his face as Clint rolled his eyes. Puck huffed in frustration. Why couldn't the older man see that Puck was definitely not SHIELD material? He was barely worth this pep talk.

"Why the hell would SHIELD want a dumb kid that barely managed to graduate and has a juvie record?"

"One, you're not dumb!" Clint said, whacking him on the back of his head. "Two, what would they want with a seventeen year old with an actual adult criminal record and an obsession with a medieval weapon that didn't even finish the sixth grade? And look at me now!" Puck couldn't help the laugh at Clint's dramatic spread arms and bright grin. "Besides all of that kid, SHIELD is in your blood."

"You talking about Captain Rogers?"

Clint gave him an appreciative look. "You're definitely not dumb if you're picking up on stuff like that. But no, I'm not touching that whole situation with a ten foot pole. I was actually talking about your great grandmother… your Nana Peggy. She founded SHIELD with Tony's father, Howard. Kind of fitting that you and Blaine are directly related to the founders and you managed to find one another and become friends."

Puck picked at a loose strong on his jeans. "You really think I could be an agent of SHIELD? You really think SHIELD would want me?"

"You would make a great agent and not just because you're Peggy's great grandson. But because you're smarter than you think. You're observant and you care. You make mistakes but you own up to them and take responsibility. You take care of the people that mean the most to you. All of he above is what is going to make you a good agent. The fact that you're more like your great grandmother than you think is what's going to make you a great agent. Stop selling yourself short, kid. You're going to be great. I would stake my very tarnished reputation."

Puck gave him a wan smile that grew a little brighter when Clint handed back the cursed envelope with a card bearing Nick Fury's contact information on it. Clint rolled to his feet smoothly and stretched. He glanced down at Puck with a raised eyebrow.

"Just promise me that you'll think about it, ok?"

"Yeah," Puck nodded absently, staring down at the card. "Yeah, I will."

"Awesome," Clint started through the back door when he noticed something by the doorway. "Seriously?! Can you please just talk to him? Have a conversation already! Because honestly you're starting to weird _me_ out. And I have a very high tolerance for weirdness."

Puck didn't bother to turn around. He already knew who Clint was yelling at. So instead he picked up his long neglected cake and waited for Captain America himself to work up the balls to talk to an eighteen year old kid. Surprisingly, given the amount of times Steve started to say something just to walk away before he managed to speak, Puck only had to wait for a few more minutes. Then there was the quiet bang of the screen door closing, shuffling almost nervous footsteps and finally a warm, heavy weight was sitting next to him. Puck glanced at him out the corner of his eye.

"I wasn't… you know, listening to you guys," Steve started.

"You would've been the only one. It's ok if you did though." Steve nodded, his fingers twitching reflexively trying to find something to distract him from the nervousness. Puck took a deep breath. "When we first met, you freaked out about my eyes. Why?"

"They reminded me of my mother's eyes. Actually your eyes are pretty much identical."

"Oh," Puck replied, touching the corner of one eye absently. "I'm the only person in my family on both sides with hazel eyes. My mom and dad both have brown eyes. Same with Sarah. My grandmother said that she and my little sister might have gotten their names from her grandmother but I got her eyes. Since none of us have ever met, I had to take her word for it."

"That is interesting."

Puck snorted. What is with the Avengers and being afraid to just say what they were actually thinking? These guys were the ones that defended the planet just two weeks ago? They were Earth's Mightiest Heroes? Earth might be a little screwed.

"So, is the part where you tell me that you think you're my great grandfather or are we going to keep dancing around the topic for the rest of our lives? Because I have to tell you, I don't have that kind of patience."

Steve tensed before letting a shaky breath. "Uh, I really don't know for sure. I think I am. I kind of feel like I could be." He glanced over at Puck. "Would it be a bad thing if I was?"

Puck thought about for a second before shaking his head. "No, I don't think it would be. It would be a little weird since you look like you're a minute older than me. But not bad."

Steve laughed. "Clint was right. You really are a lot like your great grandmother. You're practical but you have imagination."

"She sounds like she would've been fun. I didn't really get a chance to know her that well before was diagnosed with dementia. But from the stories that Nana Sarah would tell when we visited, she sounded like a really nice lady."

"Your Nana Sarah… she died?"

"Yeah," Puck replied, sobering somewhat. It wasn't just the thought of his beloved grandmother but also what it meant for Steve. The man just woke up after a seventy year nap to find out that almost everyone he cared about was either dead or barely capable of remembering what day it was much less an old lover from the forties. Then he found out that he probably had a daughter… that was dead. And all he was left with was a delinquent loser great grandson. Yeah, this definitely really sucked for Steve.

"How did she die?"

"Cancer," Puck said. His voice still quiet. "It happened really quickly too. One day she was diagnosed and a few months later… she was gone. But she and Nana Peggy made up before she died. So at least there was some peace there."

"Yeah," Steve murmured. "She was your father's mother?"

"That's right. Nana Sarah had my dad, Aaron and before that Darcy's mom, Elizabeth. There was some… tension between Nana Sarah and her mother. They fell apart and by the time Nana Peggy found her she was 16 with two kids. Nana Peggy had got married during that time as well and she had a couple of kids too. I think I have at least two aunts and uncle."

"Why don't you know for sure?"

Puck shrugged. "They really didn't look too favorably on my grandmother. And their kids just picked up on their stupidity. So we avoid that side of the family. Besides I got Darcy. I don't need anyone else."

"I'm glad that you have Darcy. It sounds like you two are really special to one another."

Puck cracked a smile at the thought of his cousin. They were very close. They both knew what it was like to have less than stellar parents, especially fathers. At least Darcy's mom was somewhat checked in to what was happening with her daughter. That was probably the only thing preventing Darcy from following the family tradition of being a teenage parent. Man, this really sucked for Steve. He had to be related to the loser side of Peggy's family. Her other kids and grandchildren and great grandchildren were all Ivy League educated. Darcy was the first to graduate from high school on their branch of the family tree. He almost didn't. He almost let her down. He almost let Steve down.

"Noah, uh, can I call you Noah?"

"Family usually does."

"Right," Steve grinned, sitting up straight. "Well, I heard you talking about your graduation and I was hoping that you would let me have a ticket. I would love to be there for you. If that's ok."

"Even if it turns out you're not related to me?"

"You're still Peggy's great grandson and you're still someone that I'm happy I'm getting to know. So yes, even if we're not actually related, I would really like to be there."

Puck fought the blush he knew was spreading in his cheeks and the face splitting smile but it was all for naught. Captain America wanted to go to his graduation. Captain America actually wanted to be there to support him. That totally beat his non involved parents. He picked up the envelope marveling that earlier it felt like a ton but now it was light. As he opened it, he found that it actually was lighter. He originally had ten tickets. He set aside the two for Darcy and Jane but that still left eight tickets. Now there were only four in the envelope. What the hell?

"What's wrong?"

"I had ten tickets. Two were for Darcy and her friend, Jane. So there should be eight in here. But now I only have four left. I don't understand."

Steve shook his head. "Clint really needs to work on expressing his emotions. I believe that your family section isn't going to be as empty as you thought it would be."

"But why did he take four…." Puck trailed off as he counted off the remaining Avengers. Tony, Bruce, Clint and Natasha… that made four. They were going to go to his graduation. They actually cared about him and wanted to go. Oh.

"I wouldn't stress it too much," Steve said, pocketing his ticket. "Clint is really fond of sleight of hand tricks as well as really bad at expressing himself verbally."

"I was literally sitting next to him the whole time. I definitely didn't see him switch the tickets out. He's good. I wonder if he would teach me how to do that if I joined SHIELD."

"You're thinking about joining SHIELD?"

"Uh, yeah? I know that Nana Peggy helped build it with Blaine's grandfather… so yeah, I thought maybe it could be a thing. Unless…."

"No," Steve blurted out, shaking his head. "No, it's a good thing. A great thing actually. I'd really like it if you joined. Maybe then we could get to know each other. Maybe you could even help with this whole twenty first century thing because I'm definitely still lost."

Puck grinned wider than he thought possible. "I would love to help… Pops." Steve pulled a face bringing a brighter smile to Puck's face. "Gramps? PopPop? Grandpappy? Papster? Bubba? Bubster? Buzz? Chief? Adda? Baba? Ace? PapaDaddy? Papa Eagle?"

"Wait, Papa Eagle?"

"You know because America."

Steve laughed shook his head. "Exactly how many of these names do you have? And did you seriously just come up with all of them right now?"

"My brain is a strange yet wondrous place," Puck retorted. "The names and possibilities are endless. I could go for days."

"I'm strangely looking forward to it," Steve laughed. He stood up, stretching as well before holding out a hand to Puck. He took it without hesitation and let his possibly (definitely maybe) great grandfather pull him to his feet and into a quick embrace. "I'm glad I found you."

"Me too," Puck whispered. "G Daddy."

"No," Steve said, pulling away. "I am definitely vetoing that one right now."

"It has a nice ring to it."

Steve rolled his eyes and pushed Puck in front of him into the house. He was promptly tackled to the floor by his equally worried friends. Steve neatly sidetracked the puppy pile of teenagers now gathered on the living room floor and walked towards kitchen. Puck could already hear Tony picking up the game to name his newly minted (possible) great grandfather. He kind of liked the Geezer Guy one. Popzie had a nice ring to it too.

"Wait, why are you guys snuggling me?!" he asked, drawn back to the fact that none of his friends had yet to move away from him. They were actually getting more comfortable. What the hell?

Sam lifted his head to look him in the eye. "Because we wanted you to know that we care. All of us. I didn't know you were feeling that way about graduation. Dude, you know I would've been there in your section. I was only sitting with Carol and Burt because they asked. I'm definitely not a fan of either Kurt or Finn right now."

Puck belatedly winced. It hadn't gotten better for Sam at the Hummel-Hudson household either. He was pretty much officially just living at Puck's house now. Of course they were all pretty much living out of Blaine's house and occasionally going home to sleep. But out of the past week, they had spent the night three out of five days. As he glanced at the clock on the wall, he found that today was going to be one of those days probably. And he also found he didn't care. He wriggled around so that his back was leaning against Sam while his head rested on Santana's shoulder. Brittany's head was tucked under his chin and Blaine's legs rested on top of his. Sure they were going to regret this in about an hour or so when they finally had to move. But for right he was content to lie on the floor inches away from the comfortable sofa surrounded by the soft breathing of his totally insane friends.

A week ago, he was fearful of the future. He didn't know what it held but he didn't think it would be anything good. Because good things rarely ever happened to him. And then New York was invaded by aliens. And he went from potential Lima loser with no real friends or family or potential job prospects to a high school graduate with a family of choice and a great grandfather that not only liked him but also wanted him around. Yeah, maybe he didn't need a miracle. Maybe he was just fine as it was.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Clint asked, strolling into the room while munching casually on an apple. "Is this some kind of weird sexless orgy?"

"Have you seriously never been snuggled with, Uncle Clint?" Blaine asked, his voice reeking of mock innocence. Puck smirked. He was becoming familiar with that tone of voice. It meant that something was about to happen. He saw movement out the corner of his eye. Oh, this was going to be hilarious.

Clint frowned. "No, I have not been snuggled. I'm an assassin for SHIELD. What part of that screams that I need or even want to be snuggled?" Clint narrowed his eyes taking in the strangely smug faces in front of him. He started to back away warily but it wasn't the teens on the floor he should've been worried about.

"I actually think every part of that says 'I need a hug'," Tony chimed in, appearing on Clint's right side. The archer jumped and quickly tried to move to the left when he bumped into a grinning Bruce. "Wouldn't you agree, Brucey?"

"It does seem to say that hugs are in order," Bruce said, smiling wider at the more nervous Clint. "I think the Other Guy agrees too."

"Jade Jaws is turning on me too?" Clint muttered. Puck watched as Clint's eyes darted between the two men and he was clearly contemplating taking them both out in order to escape. He had finally reached conclusion when Natasha and Steve joined the strange scene. Clint's blue eyes widened as he met Natasha's green gaze. "Et tu, Natalya?"

"Just accept your snuggles," Natasha teased with a small smile. Clint rolled his eyes but the smile forming at the corners of his mouth totally gave him away. With a sigh he gave into the embrace the waiting Avengers were probably going to shove on him in a few minutes anyway. At first Clint stood stiffly in the arms of his team but gradually he gave in and relaxed. Puck could almost see the darkness that was persistently clinging to the man since the invasion lifting somewhat. Maybe there was something to this whole family thing after all.

"This is pathetic, you know?" Clint murmured, breaking the content silence that settled over the room. "I mean now we're all just a bunch of snuggling morons."

"Feels good doesn't it?" Natasha asked.

Clint sighed again. "Yeah, it kinda does."

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><p>*the end for now. Hope you enjoyed!<p> 


	5. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

**Summary:** As Iron Man flew towards the Chitauri portal he had only one person on his mind: his youngest son, Blaine Anderson. Blaine has always been Tony's best kept (read only) secret. He really should've known that one little phone call was going to change everything. But what he didn't know was that he wasn't the only Avenger whose life was going to change.

**Pairings**: Established Vague!Clintasha, Pepperony, Klaine, Finnchel. Pucktana, Puckleberry, Brittana, Pezberry friendships. And as always, Blamman bromance with The Science Bros and their plus one (Clint).

**Warnings**: Language, I guess, because I have a potty mouth damn it. Also a strong possibility for crackish behaviors, Sam being a fangirl and Kurt bashing. Spoilers for _The Avengers_ and up to season four of _Glee_.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except typos! Those are definitely all mine. This is set at the end of the season three of _Glee_ and the end of _The Avengers_.

**Author's Note****: **I'm just going to on record by say I've been looking forward to this chapter since I started writing this story. I have a pretty vague outline of where I'm headed and I was looking forward to this chapter for so long. Why? Well… just read and you'll find out. Or you can skip the chapter and read the bottom author's note but that no fun!

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><p><strong>Guess Who's Coming to Dinner <strong>

It was the last glee club meeting of the school year. And for a few of them, it was their last ever meeting of the glee club. The graduating seniors seemed torn between excitement for the future and sadness over leaving behind a life they were comfortable in. Blaine could relate. His father's offer was there in the back of his mind. This could possibly be his last… ok, who was he even trying to fool? He was definitely not staying in Lima, Ohio when he finally got the chance to do what he's wanted to do since he was thirteen years old. He was finally going to live with his father. Nothing was keeping him from that. He doubted his mother would even noticed he was gone for all that she and Stanley liked to travel around the world. No, there was nothing holding him back… except for the part where he really didn't want to leave his friends behind.

By the end of the summer, the quintet would likely be scattered across the United States. Blaine would be in Malibu or New York (he was still undecided on where he wanted to live. They both had their appeal and advantages… damn choices) with his father and Pepper. Santana was headed to Kentucky for college. Brittany was going to MIT. Sam would still be in Lima finishing up his senior year. And then there was Puck. Blaine had no idea where Puck was going. But he figured it would be wherever Steve ended up. And he overheard Steve and Natasha (ok, he was totally eavesdropping) talking earlier in the week about the super soldier setting up roots in DC where he could be close to Peggy. Blaine doubted that Puck would stay in Lima when he could be around an actual family member that liked him. So he would be gone as well.

Realistically, Blaine knew that between his father and SHIELD's resources they would never be too far away from one another. They would always be a quick plane (or Quinjet) ride away. But it would be different. Somehow in the past two weeks, Blaine had gotten used to having them only a few minutes away. It would be a whole new thing to adjust to. It was just that he wanted them close… well, actually it was exactly that. For the first time in his life, Blaine found people that understood him. That accepted him. And most importantly he found people that people that he not only felt comfortable telling about his father but also sharing his father with. He never met anyone that he wanted to tell about his father much less introduce them. But he found that in Santana, Sam, Puck and Brittany. He was comfortable sharing his father with them. He was amused that his father felt comfortable with them as well. Tony genuinely liked the other teens. Blaine was reluctant to say goodbye to that.

"So Puck did you decide on your post-graduation plans yet?"

Blaine rolled his eyes internally. He knew that Will meant well (or rather he _thought_ that Will meant well) but that topic was one that they all sought to avoid with Puck in the past few days. Admittedly, it was the theme of the conversation going on in the room. All of the pending graduates were sharing their plans after the graduation was over the following week. Rachel was, of course, going to NYADA and had somehow convinced Kurt to move along with her despite his not being accepted. Finn was joining the Army, something that Rachel seemed decidedly less than excited about. Mercedes was going to out to Los Angeles to try her luck with a music career while Mike was pursuing a dance scholarship at a school in Chicago and Quinn was going to Yale. It seemed that all of the graduating gleeks were going to be scattered as well.

"I, uh, I did actually," Puck said, startling the four people who were waiting for that decision to be made. Blaine was pleased to note that he wasn't the only one of their core group staring at Puck in disbelief. Santana looked like she was a second away from reaching over the small distance between their chairs and smacking her oldest friend. Puck grinned as if he knew what they were thinking. "Well, I was actually planning on going into law enforcement."

Blaine promised swift and horrible retribution for the scoffs and mocking laughter coming from Quinn, Mercedes, Finn and Tina. He amended that to include Kurt, who he noticed was hiding a smile behind his hand. Puck rolled his eyes at Blaine's (and Sam and Santana and Brittany's) silent vow of vengeance. Blaine didn't care. Puck might have been ok with accepting their judgment but Blaine was not. They thought they knew Puck but they didn't have a damn clue. Blaine and the others knew Puck. And he knew that Puck would be great in whatever he chose to do. Especially if he chose to go into "law enforcement". Blaine smirked.

Will also gave the still amused quartet a withering look before focusing on Puck once again. "That sounds great, Puck. Are you staying local?"

"No, I'm actually not," he grinned, meeting Blaine's eyes. "I'm about to apply to join a private, government funded counter terrorism intelligence agency. They're located all over the world but I would be based mostly in New York City while I work on completing the required academy courses." He glanced over at Santana while seemingly pointedly ignoring the way Rachel's eyes lit up at that least bit of news. But Blaine knew Puck well enough to know that he caught the look and that it made him happy. Blaine snickered. Yeah, that was definitely happening. Blaine shook his head as Puck nudged Santana's leg with his foot. "You know I hear they're still looking for applicants. I apparently have an in with some people there. I might be able to get them to expedite your application"

"Really?" Santana drawled. It was a commonly known fact that Santana was having serious regrets about accepting the cheerleading scholarship. Not just because she would be away from her friends but also because cheerleading was not what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. But apparently SHIELD could be just the thing. She leaned towards Puck who met her halfway, arching an eyebrow. A smile pulled at the corners of Santana's lips. "And would we be partners, Agent Puckerman?"

"Who else could even keep up with us?" Puck countered with a smirk. "So what do you say? I think Agent Lopez has a nice ring to it."

"I say… that I think that I need to change my answer, Mr. Schue," Santana beamed. "It seems that I will in fact be going into law enforcement as well." She raised her hand to bump against Puck's waiting fist.

Blaine smiled at the pair. As if he didn't see that one coming from a mile away. He knew that as soon as Puck accepted the offer to join SHIELD, Santana would be on board as well. It was inevitable. They had demonstrated during the past two weeks (and really numerous times before) that they worked well together. They were able to communicate silently and efficiently in regular every day situations. Blaine had no doubt that they would translate to work within the spectrum of SHIELD. They were definitely going to be the new Clint and Natasha… without all the confusing as hell romantic subtext. Because seriously? Were they dating? He was halfway tempted to try and con his father into figuring that one out. But his father was not the master of subtlety and despite their obvious affection for him, Blaine doubted that neither Natasha nor Clint would hesitate to straight up murder Tony if he interfered in their weird relationship thing.

"So I guess that's more points in the column for New York, huh?" Sam asked, leaning into Blaine's side. The shorter teen chuckled softly. "Malibu might have nice beaches but New York has Santana and Puck with access to endless weapons and government secrets. That is bound to be one hell of a show. Not to mention Brittany with unlimited technology and a setting where she's actively encouraged to create whatever craziness pops into her head."

Both Blaine and Sam glanced over at the cheerleader, who was staring blankly into space with a small grin on her face while Mercedes, Quinn and Tina carried on a conversation that was clearly meant to include her but was definitely only happening around her. They both knew her well enough to know that she was dreaming up something impossible and could care less what was happening around her. Blaine stifled a laugh. MIT had no idea what they were getting themselves into with Brittany. Especially since Tony had taken a liking to the eccentric blonde and her idea of science (which included a startling amount of explosions, glitter and things that shouldn't exist in nature). If that school wasn't taken over by a Skynet clone or robotic unicorns by spring Blaine would be amazed… and slightly disappointed. Best part is that despite her being in a different state, he would still be getting a front row seat to the madness if he stayed in New York. And now Puck and Santana would as well. Everyone except….

"What about you?"

Sam blinked. "What about me?

"Well now Santana, Puck and most likely I are all going to be in New York. Britt is in Massachusetts but at least close. What are you going to do without us?'

Sam chewed absently on the bottom of his lip before giving a little shrug. "I don't know. I guess I'll be normal or something."

"That sounds boring."

Sam laughed faintly. "Yeah, it really does. But I don't exactly have a lot in the way of choices here. No surprise Avenger family members for me. I think you and Puck took them all." Blaine nudged him in the stomach. "Besides it's not so bad. At least I won't have to deal with Kurt and Finn anymore. Except for holidays. And hopefully my awesome best friends will fly me out to New York for those."

Blaine looked from Sam to where his estranged uh, Kurt… was sitting with Finn. Kurt's post graduate plans really hadn't occurred to Blaine because… well he really hadn't given Kurt much in the way of thought for the past few weeks. But Finn and Kurt were leaving. Once Puck and Blaine were gone, Sam would be able to move back in with the Hummel's with no drama. Or he could…..

"Move in with me, Dad, Pepper and most likely the rest of the Avengers, definitely Dr. Banner and probably Natasha and Clint."

"Wait, I'm sorry," Sam said, holding up his hand. "But it really sounded like you just told me to move in with you guys."

"I did."

"Dude, I can't… my parents…. And I…"

"Why not? It's not like you're living with your family anyway. You were supposed to be living with the Hummel's and for the past three weeks, you've been living with Puck or crashing at my place. Clearly your parents didn't mind. Also what's really that different about moving to New York? Besides with Dad's private jet on hand, you can see your family more than you do now… which is never."

He could tell Sam was surprised by the offer. But why he was surprised was beyond Blaine. Sam should've known that none of them would want to leave him behind. Besides if it wasn't Blaine trying to move Sam in then it would've been Puck trying to institute some sort of Junior ROTC program through SHIELD Academy and get Sam to New York that way. Blaine didn't want to think about what Santana or Brittany would pull out of their hats but he knew that it would only end in tears for someone (most likely all of them). So it was probably best that they settle this now. Time to pull out the heavy hitters.

"Plus you know… Captain America."

Sam snorted, glancing at Blaine through his bangs. "Thanks, Blaine."

"It's what friends are for."

"Dude, no. I'm friends with Quinn and Finn and even Kurt sometimes. And they haven't even offered a fraction of what you're simply giving me without wanting anything in return. Hell, Finn offered a place to live and I can't even sleep there because there's so much tension and drama over something Kurt did. So yeah, this is above and beyond a friend thing and I definitely need say thank you. So thank you, Blaine Stark."

Blaine felt a blush forming in his cheeks but instead of looking away he kept his gaze locked on Sam's. The green orbs looked as if they could see right through him. Maybe they could…. Maybe…

"So have you talked to Kurt lately?" Sam blurted out, sitting up straight in his seat and moving away from Blaine. For his part, Blaine blinked. When did they even move that close together? Were Sam's eyes always that bright and green and gorgeous? Also why was Sam bringing up Kurt of all people right now? Blaine glanced over his shoulder to find his boyfriend (?) staring at him with a sour expression on his face. What the hell was his problem?

"No, I haven't actually."

"Blaine, he is your boyfriend."

"Is he really? Can you really call him a boyfriend when you haven't talked in two weeks? Isn't there some kind of requirement that goes into a relationship? Like the two people in the relationship have to spend x amount of time together? Like it helps if one of the people in this relationship doesn't want to consistently punch the other in the throat for not only blabbing a secret that wasn't theirs to tell but also managing to be a major non apologetic douchebag?"

"Ok, I get it. You're still angry with him. But seriously, it's Kurt. I thought you guys were soul mates or whatever."

"I thought so too," Blaine shrugged. "It's really funny how time and distance can change one's perspective."

"Dude, he's going to be in New York too. You might as well try talking to him now. You know it's going to be awkward otherwise."

Blaine picked at his pants leg, sighing heavily and dropping the carefully constructed Anti-Kurt façade he worked so hard on building. Truth be told, he did miss Kurt. He did want to talk to him but the hurt was still there. And the fact that Kurt had yet to acknowledge how what he did was wrong really wasn't helping matters. He sighed again. "Trust me, I get it. I hate this. I hate not having closure with him at the very least. But everything for the past two weeks has been amazing with Dad, the Avengers, you… and the others. I just don't want to ruin everything, you know? I just want to enjoy my nice drama free life where I get fresh baked goods every day. Is that too much to ask?"

"No," Sam conceded with a smile small. "But you owe it to yourself to at least talk to him. I'm not saying that you need to get back together or stay together… whatever. Just go talk to him. You guys were friends before you started dating. Just try and remember at least that."

"How? And about what? He's going to want to you know, meet everyone. There's no way that's not going to be weird as hell."

Sam winced a little clearly imagining Kurt meeting Clint, Natasha and Bruce. Neither of them wanted to imagine any interactions between Tony and the boy that blabbed his son's secret to the whole world.

"I have an idea. Bring him tonight." Blaine stared blankly. "To the surprise dinner that your dad and Captain Rogers… Steve… wants to throw for Puck tonight. Santana mentioned something about inviting Rachel, Artie, and Mike. So invite Kurt too. Your dad and the others won't do the whole overly intimidating thing while they're fawning over Puck."

Blaine twisted his lips in thought. It made a lot of sense. He noticed that all of the Avengers seemed particularly fond and protective of Puck. So it made sense that they would be on their best (read less psychotic) behavior for anything relating to him. This would probably be the best time to bring Kurt in. Besides Sam was right. It wasn't an indication that they were going to stay together. It was simply so Blaine could figure out what it was that he wanted with the older teen. Because right now he had no damn clue.

With a sigh, Blaine typed out a quick text to his father giving him the heads up that they would have another guest for dinner that night. He admitted that he was more than a little concerned when Tony replied back, telling him that he had no idea. And also to tell Puck that he was not to give into peer pressure because had no more graduation tickets to give away. Now what the hell was that supposed to mean? Blaine looked out the corner of his eye to see that Finn and Kurt had Puck cornered. Again. He rolled his eyes and moved to intercept before Puck ended up doing something stupid. Or rather before Santana did something stupid on Puck's behalf.

"Dude, you're not even using them. Just let me have them so my mom can invite her co-workers," Finn pleaded. Santana had her arms crossed over her chest while Puck stood perfectly still beside her, with a hint of some emotion in his eye. Blaine didn't know what it was but it made him want to kick Finn in the junk for putting it there. It appeared Santana felt the same way. She glared up at their now very much former friend.

"Seriously, Hudson, you want the tickets for your mom's coworkers?!"

"They've known me since I was a baby. They want to see me graduate. They're almost like family now. And everyone knows Puck's family doesn't really come to things like this. So I don't see what the big deal is."

"And I could also use a few extra tickets. My Aunt Leslie and her girlfriend want to come to the ceremony too," Kurt chimed in. "So please, Puck. If you could let us have your tickets that would be appreciated. i mean they're just going to waste otherwise."

"Unfortunately, Puck can't," Blaine said, sliding up so that he was standing beside Puck. "You're out of luck. He no longer has any tickets to give away."

"What are you talking about? I have three left," Puck protested.

"Not according to my dad," Blaine shrugged. "He just told me to tell you that you are not to give away your tickets. I think we got some more company. Dad's text was kind of vague about that. But whatever, the point is," Blaine started facing a confused Kurt and Finn. "Puck doesn't have any tickets to give away. So stop bothering him. Just like you have family and extended family coming, so does he. Also why don't you bother Rachel? You know that most of her family doesn't talk to her or her fathers but you never bring that up with her. And I wonder why that is. Oh wait, no I don't. It's because you don't want to bring up the fact that her family life is less than ideal. But it's kind of funny how you have no problem doing that to Puck."

"Also, Puckerman, you know damn well you have people that want to see you graduate now. One of them even resorted to straight up stealing tickets so they could go. So stop being all martyr Puck," Santana chided elbowing her best friend in the side. "It's not a good look on you anyway."

Puck rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. The tickets are spoken for. I got it."

"Excellent," Blaine looked back to Kurt. "So we need to talk. After school, my place, be there. Ask Rachel for more information."

He didn't bother to wait for a response. He instead walked away knowing that Santana and Puck would be following. He flopped down in his original seat next to Sam, swinging his legs onto Sam's lap so Santana could sit beside him.

"The reason you invited Rachel and now Kurt to your place today…." Puck asked with a small grin. "Is this about the graduation surprise party I'm not supposed to know about but I totally do?"

Blaine laughed. "Yeah, they're not exactly stealth with their planning are they?"

"No, but they're the only people who have ever thrown me a surprise party or even just a party. So this works."

Blaine nodded, meeting Sam and Santana's gazes evenly. It was not fair that someone as awesome and giving as Puck was denied parties. They all silently vowed to fix that. Puck looked between them all and shook his head.

"You guys are so weird," he murmured. Still the red staining his cheeks and the small smile on his lips gave away his true feelings on that one. "I can't believe I'm signing up for more time spent practically living with you weirdoes." Off the confused looks he got, Puck smirked. "I know you invited Sam to move into Stark Tower."

"How'd you know that? That happened literally like five minutes ago."

"Did I mention Clint's been teaching me how to read lips?" Puck grinned. He backed away with that same shit eating grin on his face and headed straight to Brittany. The blonde didn't bat an eye as plopped onto the floor beside her, resting his head on her leg. She continued ignoring her conversation with Quinn, Mercedes and Tina while threading her fingers through his hair. Blaine shook his head. Sam laughed and Santana huffed, frowning slightly.

"Not like it wasn't inherently obvious. But I guess we know who the favorite kid is now. But I swear I'm quitting this before I even start if he gets a damn bow and arrow."

"No, you're not. There is no way you're going to trust someone else to have his back in the field. You're definitely not quitting."

Santana sighed. "No, I'm not. I really hate when you use logic."

Blaine snickered. "Want a hug?"

Santana bit her lip. "Surprisingly, I really do." Blaine wasn't even surprised when Sam moved around to Santana's other side and hugged her as well. "I really think we all snuggle too much. Like it might be a problem."

"Nah, there is no such thing as too much snuggling."

"Word."

* * *

><p>So as it turned out, the surprise was not the actual party but rather who the guests were. Blaine had grown comfortable with the various emotions and facial expressions Puck showed through the past few weeks. But even he was caught off guard by the sheer exhilaration on Puck's face as a petite, curvy brunette flung herself into his more than welcoming embrace after shoving a balloon in his hands minutes after they walked through the front door.<p>

"Darcy!" Puck shouted as he hugged the girl tighter. "I thought you weren't coming down until next week."

Darcy pulled away from him and looked up at him. After a few minutes, she tapped him on the chin, pulling an even bright smile from his lips. "I actually wasn't planning on it, dorkface. But then we got some company a couple of days ago. He was looking for the Avengers and it turns out that you're shacking up with them now! So we figured we'd show up early. Surprise!"

Puck laughed before looking at the balloon in his hand. It was a blue helium filled balloon with the words 'it's a boy' spread across in bold white letters. He arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Sadly, I didn't even buy it. Natasha and Clint did. I just was the lucky one who got to give it to you!" she cackled. Puck shook his head, clearly used to his cousin's antics.

"So I guess they filled you in?"

"Yup, Captain America is our great grand pappy."

"You mean possibly."

Darcy shook her head and pointed at the balloon. "Nope, pretty sure I mean definitely. Dr. Banner ran a test and everything."

"You did a DNA test?" Puck asked tilting his head towards Bruce with a confused look on his face. "How'd you do that? Don't you need samples to do that? And consent?"

Bruce shrugged, the very image of calm, cool and collected. "You do realize that you all leave a DNA trail from the second you walk through the door every day. It was only a matter of collecting the DNA you leave all over and run the test."

"Uncle Bruce, I'm going to need you to play that sentence back through your head and understand why it was all wrong," Blaine commented lightly, enjoying the pensive look that crossed Bruce's face.

"What Bruce is trying to say is that DNA is on everything in this house from the cups you drink out of to the pillow you sleep on." Tony explained.

"It's still creepy," Puck muttered.

"The man never said that it wasn't," Clint grinned. "Anyway if by some small chance you weren't related, we were never going to say anything. But I mean it was pretty obvious that you were. So congratulations, Steve. In the case of eighteen year old and twenty five year old Darcy, you are the great grandfather!"

Blaine watched that reference fly right over Steve's head. He also watched as Darcy and Clint exchanged amused glances. Poor Steve. Blaine almost felt bad but truth be told, he was kind of looking forward to the pending insanity. He was so Tony Stark's son.

"See! He's our Gramps. Now come here so I can introduce you to my boss."

Darcy's boss was the total opposite of Darcy. She was quiet, polite and just a little bit awkward. She also seemed permanently bemused by Darcy. Blaine was starting to think that was just the standard operating procedure when dealing with the two cousins. Blaine really liked Jane. She seemed nice enough but he knew he wasn't the only one that was more interested in the blonde, hulking mass of muscle she was attached to by the hand.

"Kid, meet your Uncle Thor," Tony said, slinging an arm around Blaine's shoulders. Blaine's eyes widened as he got his first glimpse of the alien god in person. He was definitely more impressive up close than on television. "Also Captain 2.0, this is why you have one less ticket now."

"And you thought your section was going to be quiet," Clint snickered from where he now sat on the floor. He was leaning against the couch that Natasha and Bruce were on. "Thor does not understand the meaning of the phrase inside voice."

"He is correct. What is this inside voice you speak of? Jane has mentioned it as well during the past week," Thor boomed. Blaine could see the spark of mischief that ran through Puck's eyes in that moment. He was getting too good at reading these weirdoes he willingly (and happily) called friends. He made a mental note to keep an eye on that one. Not to stop it, but mostly because he wanted to have the chaos captured on film. Yeah, he was definitely Tony Stark's son.

* * *

><p>He had great grandchildren. He had three to be precise though everything he heard about Sarah made him a little hesitant with meeting her. He knew that one day he would want to… because she was family. But for right now he was content to get to know the oldest of his great grandchildren. Darcy was just as charming as Puck. Within five minutes, she had nearly every Avenger in love with her and ready to declare her their best friend for life. Steve knew that even if they weren't his great grandchildren, he would've loved them both like they were. They were an interesting and fun mix of Peggy, Howard and Bucky. He was definitely looking forward to getting to know them. But first….<p>

"You wanted to see me, Dr. Banner?"

Bruce gave him a look reminding him for the hundredth time that the other man told him to call him Bruce. The fact that he managed to convey this look even as they moved further into the kitchen and away from the crowd growing in the living room was impressive. A few minutes ago, the rest of the party guests arrived and they were quickly acclimating to the ways of the Avengers. Most of them were. Steve knew that he was supposed to be the paragon of American values or whatever Tony kept calling him but even he was hard pressed to find something remotely endearing in Blaine's boyfriend. Especially with the way he kept subtly making condescending comments about Puck. Steve was aware of the history between Puck and Kurt. But he also knew that Puck had made great efforts at trying to make up for his past actions. And the fact that Kurt continued to hold that against him when he himself was guilty of something just as horrible... Yes, Steve was definitely struggling to finding a reason to like Kurt Hummel.

"Steve?"

The super soldier blinked realizing that Bruce was trying to get his attention. "Sorry. I lost my train of thought for a moment. Now you wanted to talk to me, Bruce? Something about Noah?"

"It's about the sample I took from him," Bruce looked hesitant. "I don't want to alarm you or him but when I was comparing his sample versus yours, I found that they matched a little too well."

"Wouldn't that be because we're related?"

"Yes, but it's not just that…. It's also…."

"He's got super soldier serum growing in his blood," Clint interjected, appearing from out of nowhere. Bruce threw Clint a dirty look but the archer simply shrugged it off. "What? You were never going to get that sentence out. Just tell him like it is, Bruce. The kid inherited more than just eyes and a strong jawline from the Captain over here. He may be producing super soldier serum."

"What do you mean, he may be?"

"Well after I noticed that in his sample, I may have looked into bloodwork and exams he's given in the past."

"He had Tony hack Puck's medical records dating back to when he was a kid," Clint translated.

"Yeah, I did," Bruce shrugged, finally accepting that Clint was going to interject no matter what he said or thought about it. "And there were plenty of records to go through. Did you that Noah's first hospitalization was age five? He fell down the stairs."

Steve's jaw clenched even as his gaze flickered to Clint. The slightly younger man was tense. Bruce was watching him as well, waiting to see if he had any reaction. Eventually Clint swallowed and nodded his head. Steve made a note to keep an eye on him. He read the archer's file. He knew what he went through before joining SHIELD and he was all too aware of what he went through recently. He definitely didn't want Clint fading away. Though he only knew him (and the rest of the team) for a few short weeks, Steve was attached to all of them. He didn't want to lose any of them.

"So I definitely need to have words with my grandson," Steve finally said, clearing his throat. "But back to Noah's medical records. Did you find the serum there too?"

"That's the thing. None of his tests reveal the hormones commonly found in the serum until last year. I should also note that he appeared to have hit physical maturity last year."

Steve raked a hand through his hair trying to understand. It didn't help. Somehow Noah was starting to produce the same serum that turned Steve from a weak, asthmatic into a super soldier. And the kid was producing it on his own. Puck hadn't been injected with the formula. It was passed down…. From Steve.

"What about Darcy?"

"She could also be producing the serum but I think it would've been observed by now. I believe that it either bypassed her or it manifested itself in a different way. The only way to know for sure would be to take live samples from all three of you."

"I'll talk to them about it tomorrow," Steve promised.

"You ok?" Bruce asked, his voice quiet and eyes soft as he looked at the increasingly more distressed super soldier.

Steve had to laugh. Was he ok? The super solider serum was both the bane of his existence and his salvation. It was what transformed him from a virtual ninety pound weakling into someone would could, and did, make a difference. But his whole life became defined by that formula. He became a mockery of what he wanted to be. While he was proud to wield his shield and the suit, he knew how Captain America truly came to be. It was because the formula that he woke up alone in a world that was so different than the one he knew. The formula made him stronger and faster and better… but it also made him someone people wanted to use, to study. He didn't want that life for Puck. He knew that he had only begun to scratch the surface on Puck's past but Steve knew it wasn't pleasant. He knew that the teen had been used and abused before and Steve didn't want something he unwittingly passed down to hurt him more.

"Aw, too bad. I guess someone wasn't worthy!" Puck's voice floated from the living room and into the kitchen. Steve could almost hear the smug smirk plastered on the kid's face. He exchanged confused glances with Clint and Bruce before following them both to where the rest of the party was gathered. Mjolnir was on the coffee table in the middle of the room, almost if it were some kind of centerpiece. Blaine and Sam were pulling on the handle together trying to lift it up. It clearly wasn't working much to the amusement of Thor, Darcy and Puck.

Blaine gave up with a groan and glared in Puck's direction. "If you think it's so easy, why don't you try?"

Puck snorted. "Dude, I can tell you now that I'm very far from worthy."

Steve tried to ignore how Puck's voice wavered a little behind the false bravado he was putting up. Steve really tried to ignore Kurt's snicker of agreement. He made a mental note to thank Artie later when the wheelchair bound teen "accidentally" tipped his drink over on Kurt's lap causing the other teen to run out the room in search of a bathroom.

Santana watched him go before focusing on Puck again. "Oh, come on, Puckerman. Don't be a buzzkill" she jeered, from her spot on the sofa between Brittany and Rachel. "We all tried."

"Maybe if I tried with the gloves," Tony muttered. "There's got to be something to this."

"There is," Thor announced looking regal as ever reclined in the arm chair with his arm around Jane. "None of you are worthy."

"Come on, Puck," Sam pressed. "Represent for humanity!"

Puck rolled his eyes but rose to his feet to take a stand behind the hammer. He wrapped his fingers around the hilt, took a deep breath and gave a token pull. He didn't manage to lift it but a silence fell over the tittering group as the hammer wobbled a bit. Puck's eyes widened and he backed away in surprise.

"The hell? It…. Moved."

Darcy leapt to her feet and tried her luck. The hammer didn't budge. Steve pursed his lips as a theory formed in his mind. For his own confirmation, Steve took his own turn. As he suspected, the hammer shifted a bit more for him. Enough to make Thor nervous enough to take it back. But that was just as fine because it just proved what Steve was starting to suspect. He thought back to the Red Skull and his monstrous appearance after he was given the same formula as Steve. Howard told him it was if the formula chose him. It saw who he truly was and not just the small, scrappy kid from Brooklyn. Steve was starting to think that it might be the same for Puck. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that Puck was displaying signs of being a super solider. Steve didn't know him very well (yet) but he knew enough about the kid to know that Puck was someone who cared deeply about bullies, mostly because he learned from being one. But the glee club had changed him. Having a daughter changed him. Clearly it was for the better. The formula in him saw past all of the things that made Puck think he wasn't worth it and proved that he was. He had a feeling that Tony was right. There was something that was bringing the kids together. Because no matter what Puck was becoming. It was clear that he wouldn't be going through it alone.

And then the doorbell rang. Tony immediately looked to Blaine who was also sitting up and alert. "You invite anyone else?"

Steve watched as Blaine made eye contact with Brittany, Sam, Puck and Santana before shaking his head. "No, this is it."

The tension only increased when the door opened and closed. Natasha and Clint both pulled knives out of who only knew where. Thor was pushing Jane and Darcy behind him while he held his hammer in the other hand. Steve exchanged looks with Bruce and Tony. They were all set to make a move when their intruder made himself known. He held his hands up in surrender, letting them all see the shiny metallic object dangling from the fingers of his left hand. One eye stared at them in a familiar mixture of amusement and condescension.

"Did you know that there is a key under the mat?"

Tony groaned, looking at Blaine. "I thought I told you to move that."

"No," Blaine shook his head. "I thought you were going to do that."

Steve fought the urge to roll his eyes at both father and son and instead focused on their newest arrival. "Director Fury, to what do we owe the honor?"

Nick grinned before pulling two envelopes out of his long coat's pocket. One of them was smaller and brightly colored. The other was a manila envelope that Clint seemed to recognize. Before Steve could question why the archer suddenly looked like he was going to be sick, Nick was turning toward Puck and handing him the smaller envelope.

"Congratulations on your graduation, Mr. Puckerman."

Puck took the envelope hesitantly. "Uh thanks, Mr. Uh?"

"My name is Nicholas Fury. I'm the Director of SHIELD. Can I say that I have waited a long time to meet you."

"You knew about me?"

"Of course. I've been tracking Agent Carter's family for a very long time. I knew about Ms. Lewis before she interacted with SHIELD. That was a twist of fate I didn't see coming. Nor did I anticipate that you and Blaine would become friends. "

"Wait, you knew about me too?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow. Nick rolled his eye.

"I'm the Director of SHIELD. There isn't a lot that gets past me. Of course I knew about you, Mr. Anderson. As well as your brother, Cooper."

"I knew it!" Tony muttered. "But you didn't really come all this way just rub it in that you knew I had a secret kid. Did you?"

"No, I actually came all this way to attend the graduation of Steve's secret great grandkid and another one of my two new recruits."

"Wait, two?" Puck's brow furrowed. He glanced at Santana who shrugged. "San didn't even decide she was applying until today."

"I know," Nick replied cryptically. He opened the larger envelope and pulled out three different pieces of paper. "Two days I received applications complete with recommendations from one of my best agents for a Santana Lopez and a Noah Puckerman. I approved them this afternoon. You two start at the end of the summer." The pair exchanged a brief fist bump and a grin. "Sadly, I did not come here just to deliver that happy news. I'm here because in the same envelope I also received a resignation letter."

"A resignation letter? From who?" Bruce murmured. And then all eyes flickered towards Clint who was halfway out the door. He groaned as he realized he was caught.

"Seriously, Clint?" Natasha snapped.

"What? It saved a stamp!" Clint protested. He glared at Nick. "Why are you even here? I'm assuming you actually read the letter. So I hope you should know why I'm doing this. And I hope you didn't come here to try and change my mind about leaving SHIELD."

"Do you really think I'm going to let you quit after all the effort that Phil and I put in with you? You were the youngest recruit in SHIELD history. We went through sheer hell getting you to where you are. And you actually thought I was going to just let you walk away from it because you were brainwashed and shot me in the vest?"

"It was a thought," Clint retorted. It was the first time since Steve met the archer that he could see how young the agent really was. And now standing in front of Nick, he seemed almost like a petulant child being scolded by his parent.

"Yeah, well I'm not. I'm a little confused here, Barton. You knew I wasn't going to let you go without a fight. You had to know that I wasn't going to accept this. Not after everything we've been through. Not to mention what you and Phil have been through. You think this is what he wants for you? You think he wants you to walk away?"

Clint's jaw tensed and his hands which were previously hanging loose at his side balled into tight fists as he fought the urge not to explode. When he spoke the easygoing archer was gone and in his place was the master assassin they all knew laid under the surface. He didn't really display it before but it was prominent now. "It doesn't really matter what Phil wants for me, does it? It really doesn't matter what he and I have been through either. Because the reality is that Phil is….."

"Hoping that you have what will pass as a good excuse for this dramatics," a cool voice that was all too familiar to the gathered Avengers finished.

Clint's eyes widened impossibly and all color drained from his face as he turned around to face the front door and the man with the sharp suit, warm smile and soft, patient green eyes. Clint took a shaky breath, taking a step away and ultimately leaning against a wall. "Phil?!"

"Son of Coul!"

"Agent?!"

"Uncle Agent?"

Darcy giggled, clapping a confused Puck on the back. "Congrats, little cousin. Looks like the Puckerman family section just scored a full house!"

* * *

><p>*Hope you enjoyed! No, seriously, I hope you enjoyed. Like I said, I really enjoyed writing this one a lot because I got to bring Phil back! Yes, I could've just had him in there from the beginning but how else was I going to get Clint to stress bake. Think about the cookies! Kidding… kind of. Anyway, the whole worthy scene was definitely stolen from <em>Avengers: Age of Ultron<em> extended trailer because… it made me giggle. But credit given where credit due. I hope that you did like. And I'll see you soon with Chapter Six!


	6. Hooked on a Feeling

**Summary:** As Iron Man flew towards the Chitauri portal he had only one person on his mind: his youngest son, Blaine Anderson. Blaine has always been Tony's best kept (read only) secret. He really should've known that one little phone call was going to change everything. But what he didn't know was that he wasn't the only Avenger whose life was going to change.

**Pairings**: Established Vague!Clintasha, Pepperony, Klaine, Finnchel. Pucktana, Puckleberry, Brittana, Pezberry friendships. And as always, Blamman bromance with The Science Bros and their plus one (Clint).

**Warnings**: Language, I guess, because I have a potty mouth damn it. Also a strong possibility for crackish behaviors, Sam being a fangirl and Kurt bashing. Spoilers for _The Avengers_ and up to season four of _Glee_.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except typos! Those are definitely all mine. This is set at the end of the season three of _Glee_ and the end of _The Avengers_.

**Author's Note****: **So Happy Holidays everyone! Thanksgiving is this week and I'm looking forward to being able to crank out a few more chapters of this and other stuff this week. Excited! Hope you enjoy this chapter. Ciao for now!

* * *

><p><strong>Hooked on a Feeling<strong>

Clint wasn't exactly lying when he told Puck that he was less than the picture of an ideal agent when Phil plucked him out of prison at the ripe age of 17. He just didn't paint the whole picture He kind of sugarcoated exactly how much of a pain in the ass he actually was back then. Nick didn't sugarcoat it though when he said that they went through sheer hell with him. That was the truth. Clint really didn't like looking back at his first two years in the agency. The first two years were rough. He didn't trust anyone (not even himself). He didn't like anyone (especially not himself). He spent two years waiting for them to decide that he wasn't useful anymore and dump him somewhere. But they didn't. Instead Nick and Phil put up with his attitude and his sometimes flagrant insubordination. They would correct him but move on. They didn't dwell. They didn't question. But Clint still didn't trust.

It was all too good to be true. Good things simply did not happen to Clint Barton. He learned that at the age of six when his mother finally grew a backbone and decided that she was leaving her abusive husband. She made a plan to get her and her sons out of the house. All she had to do was suffer through one more day with him and then they were free. She died in an accident with his drunken waste of a father when they were only a day away from freedom. After that it was the group home and then the circus… and then jail. So yeah, Clint didn't believe good things could happen to him. He didn't believe that good people would give a damn about him. But clearly they did because two years after he pulled Clint out of jail and promised him a chance at a brighter future, Phil Coulson almost died to ensure that future for Clint.

Phil was only supposed to be Clint's handler. His SO. He wasn't supposed to be on the field taking hits for his angry, emotionally stunted teenage sniper. But he was and he did. Phil almost died because Clint didn't care about his own life. As he sat by Phil's bedside waiting and hoping that he would pull through, Clint finally accepted it. He finally accepted that the hovering and the concern for his wellbeing and the birthdays wasn't just for show. It was because Phil cared. He actually cared about Clint. And despite his not wanting to ever care again, Clint realized that he cared too. He cared about Phil. He also cared about Nick because to the best of his knowledge the good director never told a soul about how Clint had a minor breakdown following that particular revelation. He cared and was cared about. It was new thing. He reveled in and he let himself grow and evolve because of it. He became one of the better agents in SHIELD not because he was loyal to the agency but because he was loyal to Nick and Phil. He wanted to make them proud because for the first time in years he had a family. And then Loki happened and it took away everything Clint worked for and wanted in this world.

He knew it was a little bit childish to send the resignation letter in with Santana and Puck's applications. Maybe a small part of him did want Fury to fight him on it. To tell him that he wasn't a worthless traitor. To tell him that it wasn't his fault that Phil died and that he would still be welcome back at SHIELD. Because right now the self-deprecating voice in his head was dead set on telling him all the ways in which he didn't deserve to even be sitting with the rest of the Avengers much less still be considered an agent of SHIELD. And that's exactly what Nick did. He fought him. And he bought the one person aside from Natasha that Clint could never say no to. The one person Clint thought he would never get to see again. It's funny that when you lose a person you suddenly think of a thousand things you want to say to them. And now that Clint had a chance to say those thousand things to Phil again, he couldn't think of a single thing to say. Good thing Phil was always fluent in Clint.

"Happy Belated Birthday," Phil said just a second before he pushed a box onto Clint's lap. The archer looked between the present and his returned from the dead handler in confusion. "I meant to give it to you when we got you back. But I was… a bit delayed."

"You were a bit _dead_," Clint pointed out, pushing the box off his lap. It landed with a heavy thud beside him, echoing on the no doubt very expensive tiled floor of the balcony. He raised an eyebrow at the package. "What the hell did you get me? A brick?"

"Why don't you open it?"

Clint reached towards it before pulling his hand back abruptly. He swallowed when he noticed that his hands were trembling slightly. He clenched his hands into fists, willing them to stop and dropped them on his lap when they didn't listen to his command. He heard Phil let out a soft sigh before a too familiar weight was sitting beside him with a shoulder pressed against his. Clint let out a shaky breath at the solid proof that this was happening.

"How are you even alive?" Clint finally asked once the embarrassing urge to bawl his eyes out had passed. For now. "I saw… the damage report. You were dead."

"I don't know the answer to that question," Phil said, shaking his head. "Pretty sure that Fury did something though. Pretty sure I should be concerned but I guess I'm just happy to be back. Whatever he did will just be something to wonder about."

"It's been three weeks," Clint said quietly. "How long where you…. Not dead? And where were you?"

"Clint, it's been eleven years. I would think that by now you could just ask me what you really want to know. You want to know the length of time between me waking up and me finding you." Clint nodded his head and had to turn his head away to hide his glistening eyes at Phil's warm chuckle. "It's been a week. As for where I was? I keep saying Tahiti but I don't think that's right. I think that might be part of that whole thing I should be concerned thing."

Clint nodded. "Did Nick tell you that your cards got messed up?"

Phil tensed. "My cards were in my locker." Clint looked back at Phil. "I'm going to kill that manipulative son of a bitch." Despite himself, Clint snickered. "Oh, laugh it up. I seem to remember a certain archer who threw a temper tantrum when his _Harry Potter_ books were destroyed when his apartment burned down. I also recall it took said archer's handler and the director holding him down to stop him from running back into a still burning building to try an save them."

"I loved those books," Clint protested with a small smile.

He did love those books. Not because the series was great, although it was, but because the books were the first birthday present he received in years. He really was more upset about the loss of his books than he was his apartment. But he was over it all when Phil and Nick arrived to pick him up (and stop him from almost murdering himself over some books) from the burned down remains of his apartment building at four in the morning only to bring him back to Phil's house. He was told he could stay there until he found another place. He's been living there ever since. Phil gave him a permanent place to live when he wasn't on mission. The one constant in his life at SHIELD was Phil. And he admitted to being beyond lost when he thought the man was dead. He was still a little lost now that he wasn't.

"So Noah Puckerman?" Phil started breaking the comfortable silence that settled over the two men. "You filled the application in for him."

"Yeah," Clint shrugged. "The kid was made for this. Literally. SHIELD is in his blood."

"But that's not why, is it?"

"No, it's not," Clint smiled wryly. "It's because he's like me. I know what I was like at his age. He's just a little older than I was when you first picked me up. Not that I was much better once I was recruited."

"You got there."

"Yeah, I did. But yeah, I just remembered what I was like at that age. And I guess I saw something there. I saw the reason you recruited me."

"And your next move was then to completely abandon him once you got him into SHIELD?" Phil asked. His tone was calm. There was no accusation or recrimination there. He was genuinely interested in Clint's thought process. That was one of the things that Clint liked best about Phil. One of the things he missed most about Phil.

"I knew he would be okay. That kid doesn't need me. He just needed someone to point him in the right direction. But I really feel like he would've reached the SHIELD conclusion at some point in time on his own. And he would've brought Santana along with him then too. Blaine is going to end up there one day. And Steve and Tony will be there for all of them. So I knew Puck would be ok because he had his family."

"That doesn't include you, Uncle Clint?" Clint tensed, looking down at his shoes. He gave a small shrug. "Well I'm reasonably sure that Mr. Puckerman and all of the people that are poorly trying to spy on us at the moment would beg to differ on that."

Clint leaned over the edge of the balcony railing just in time to spot a flash of red ducking back into the window just below his newest hiding spot. He knew she wasn't alone. Less than a minute later he saw Santana sticking her head out the same window. Her eyes widened when she caught him still looking. Brittany peered out as well waving before Santana yanked her back in. Clint laughed shifting away from the railing.

"I guess I did find a family, huh?"

"I guess you did."

Clint chewed on his lip for a moment before finally looking up to meet Phil's gaze. "But I guess I always did have a family."

Phil grinned before ruffling the archer's hair. "Now you're getting it."

"Oh, shut up," Clint growled, shoving Phil's hand away.

"It's okay that you're a little slow. We all love you anyway."

"Death has made you kind of an ass, you know that?"

"The better to fit in with the rest of you," Phil retorted with a laugh that finally had Clint relaxing. He finally felt settled in his own skin again. The parts of him that shattered when Natasha finally confirmed what Clint felt in his gut were slowly mending themselves. For the first time in his miserable life, something good happened to him and he wasn't going to question it. He didn't know what Fury did to bring Phil back from the dead but he was going to accept it and even appreciate it.

"I'm glad you're back," Clint murmured. Phil nodded and slung an arm around the younger man and squeezed him in a one armed hug briefly.

"Me too, kiddo. Me too."

For once, Clint didn't protest being referred to as a kid. Then again he hardly every protested when it was Phil or Nick. Other SHIELD agents, well they didn't get to call him kid. He knew that a lot of people expected him to be much older than he actually was. Especially considering the fact that he was with the agency for so long and was one of the few agents in Fury's inner circle. It was not his fault that he was an overachiever. There were very few that could say they were a master assassin with ten years of service under their belt by the age of 28. But if Clint had anything to say about it, Noah Puckerman and Santana Lopez were going to come pretty damn close. They already had Fury wrapped around their collective little fingers. For someone as badass and gruff as Fury appeared to be, he sure did melt when it came to damaged teenaged recruits. He really seemed to have a soft spot for them.

"About Santana," Phil started in that weird way that always made Clint think he was somehow reading his mind. "She didn't decide until today that she was even going to apply to SHIELD. Yet you sent in the application for her as well."

"I guess if I saw myself in Puck then I saw Nat in Santana. They're cut from the same cloth those two. Let's all be glad the Red Room never got a hold of that one." Phil snickered. "Puck is going to need someone who will help ground him. Someone who will have his back in the field. I've seen them together. They work as a unit already. They'll be good together."

"Please tell me they're not going to be another you and Natasha."

"What do you mean? Me and Nat are good."

"You know exactly what I mean. Just tell me that my death served more of a purpose than to motivate Steve and Tony to get it together and unite the rest of the Avengers. Please tell me something good came from my death."

"Oh, you mean... that."

"Yeah, that," Phil replied dryly.

"Uh, that's still being, uh, it's complicated…. I don't actually know."

"We're a thing," Natasha's voice floated up. Clint slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead and groaned. He leaned over the railing to see her smiling up at him. "What? Like Phil was the only one wondering. You don't really pay attention that much do you?"

"Go away, Nat. I'm fine," Clint whined. "Go spy on someone else. And take the kids with you." He grinned at the chorus of protests from behind his partner. Natasha rolled her eyes with a smile before pushing back in the window. Clint glanced at Phil with a nervous grin. "So I guess we're together now."

"About damn time."

"Really?"

"What? It's true. You two drove Nick and I nuts with this whole dating not dating thing you had going on. I don't think my heart can take watching Puck and Santana do the same thing. Not to mention the pockets of most SHIELD agents. The betting pool was getting a bit steep."

"Well I don't think you have to worry about that. He's totally got this thing for that Rachel girl. I guess I can see it. Personally I think he fits better with Santana but Blaine told me that those two together would probably be the equivalent of a five alarm fire happening right in front of you in terrifying real life Technicolor. I really think he needs to work on his metaphors. Then again he could talk like Tony all the time which would be really terrifying. Matter of fact I think that might scarier than Puck and Santana dating and why are you looking at me like that?"

Clint arched an eyebrow as he looked at the fondly bemused look on Phil's face. He had seen a few times throughout the years of knowing the older man. He always wore that look when Clint went on his usual rambling rants that seemed to only happen around Phil or Natasha. Phil always had that look when he started talking. It was almost like he was proud. Clint thought back to everything he just said and came up blank.

"Seriously, what?"

"It's nothing," Phil replied, shaking his head. "Just… I did good getting you out of that jail cell."

"You just now figuring that out? Dude, I helped save New York with a bow and arrow! Like who does that? I should've died the second I stepped out there. But I didn't. I lived and helped stop an alien invasion. I blew up a god! Ok well I kind of blew up a god. I knocked him off his stupid flying scooter thing at any rate and then the Hulk smashed. But he only did that because I shot Loki out of the sky. So really it's safe to say that I was a valuable indispensable member of the team and they would've failed without me."

"Were you now?"

Clint paused as he realized that Phil more than likely knew all this but still looked interested in hearing about it. Clint also realized this was the first time that he was actually talking about the events of that day with anything other than dread or guilt. It was also the first time he was able to see that he did play a role in their victory. He did help. He smiled softly at his handler.

"I'm really glad you're back."

"Me too," Phil repeated. "And for the record, I don't blame you for what happened. You were taken over by Loki. None of it was your fault."

"It feels like it was."

"I know," Phil sighed, bumping his shoulder against Clint's. "One day you'll figure out that every bad thing that happens to you or around is not always your fault. Loki choosing you was not something you could control or something that you chose. Although I have to admit that I'm glad he saw something in you that day."

"What? Why?! He made me do horrible things. I killed innocent people. I killed innocent agents, Phil! I helped him escape and he killed you. Why the hell would you be happy that he picked me?!"

"Because the alternative would be that he killed you or maimed you and left you to be buried underneath the ruins of the base like the other agents he didn't choose," Phil retorted, coming the closest he ever had to yelling at Clint. And that included the time that the archer scratched Lola. Clint blinked. "I'm sorry that those other agents are dead. I'm sorry that I died. But you dying wouldn't have been acceptable. I would not have been ok with you being dead. I could not handle you being dead. And besides had he chosen anyone else, they might have killed Nick as well."

"I shot him!"

"In the vest," Phil pointed out. "You shot him in the vest that you knew he was wearing. Why didn't you take a headshot? Or aim for a weak spot in the armor. I know you know them. You would've hit him because you haven't missed a target since you were 12. You had a chance to kill Nick and you didn't. You could've killed Maria and you didn't. You fought Loki the best you could. I don't know a lot of other agents that are as stubborn as you. A lot of them would've given up and been his willing slave. You fought as hard as you could and that's why you're still here today."

Clint thought about what Phil was saying. He didn't really think about it that way before. He remembered shooting Nick. He was initially thinking about a headshot but changed his mind at the last minute. He remembered feeling frustrated at at the fact that he didn't kill Fury but now he was realizing the frustration was Loki's control and the decision to save Fury was all him. Phil was also right about Maria. He could've killed her. Hell, he should've killed Maria but all of his bullets missed. When he learned that Selvig built the backdoor into the portal device, Clint felt even more guilt over his actions. Selvig had enough control that he ended up doing something that saved the day in the end. But maybe Clint did too. Because if Nick and Maria hadn't lived that day, the Avengers might not have been called together in the first place.

"I guess, maybe Loki picking me wasn't a bad thing after all."

"Now you're getting it," Phil said, ruffling his hair again.

"Stop doing that!" Clint grunted, shifting away from the other man. "Seriously, back in my life less than an hour and you're already messing with my hair. I keep telling you I'm not a puppy or a kid."

"But you are. You're _my_ kid, therefore I get to do this," Phil said before ruffling his hair once again. Clint let it go this time because it felt nice to hear Phil say aloud what Clint already knew in his heart. He was Phil's something. Phil played many roles in Clint's life. He was like a father, mother, and brother in one package. Clint accepted that fact the day he watched Phil bleeding out for a hit that was meant for him. Death hadn't changed that either. He was starting to get that nothing really would. Phil was and always would be his family. He smiled softly and craned his head to look over at Phil.

"So did you know that Tony had kids too?"

"I actually did not," Phil replied, leaning back on his elbows. "I did know about Puckerman though. You know how obsessed Nick was with the original super soldier experiment. He pretty much figured that whole situation out on his own."

"Yeah, like he's the only one that gets super nerdy and weird when it comes to Captain America." Clint laughed as Phil elbowed him in the stomach. "You need to get to know Sam. I think he's like your long lost child. He pretty much stalked Steve from the second we walked through the door."

"Sounds like a smart kid," Phil grinned. "Tell me about them, Tony's sons. Are they anything like him?"

"It's weird. I totally want Bruce to do a DNA test because I refuse to believe that Cooper is not biologically his. They act so much alike. Or rather, Cooper acts a lot like Tony before he settled down with Pepper. Blaine is some kind of anomaly. When you first look at him, he doesn't act anything like Tony or his brother. Then you really look closer and you realize that he has these… moments."

"Huh?"

Clint thought about an example when he found one approaching the house. He had only seen the couple through various pictures hanging throughout the house but it wasn't difficult to tell that this was Annette and Stanley Anderson. They were finally back. And it appeared that they were confused by the number of cars in their driveway. Clint couldn't fight the scoff that escaped his lips as he got his first look at Blaine's mother and stepfather. He could see why the kid grew up confused. He definitely didn't resemble either one of them. Blaine was all Tony. And in more ways than just looks. Clearly he got Tony's brains and heart too. Because Clint knew that Tony Stark had one of the biggest hearts around, despite his constant urge to hide that little truth from the world.

Clint's lips ticked upwards as he watched the couple approach the front door. He heard Tony nagging Blaine about the security system vaguely while he was climbing up here earlier. And his view from the balcony allowed him to see the moment when Stanley reached for the doorknob only to receive a lovely non-lethal jolt of electricity. Annette gasped as her husband collapsed to ground in convulsions.

"Blaine Michael Anderson!"

Clint's smirk grew brighter at the smothered giggles he heard coming from right below them. He didn't even need to look to know that Tony and his sons were admiring their handiwork. Yeah, Blaine was definitely all Tony.

* * *

><p>"I knew this would happen if you got too involved with Blaine!"<p>

Tony barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he stared down his ex-girlfriend. There was once a time when this woman was his everything. He met her when she had nothing and he shared his world with her and her son. But she changed. She went from idealistic young woman who hit a rough patch in life to materialistic, vain and ego centric. She went from being a loving mother and partner to bordering on shrewish and neglectful. When Blaine was born, Cooper took a lot of the responsibility of making sure his brother didn't die. It led to a lot of resentment on both ends of that brotherly relationship. Resentment that was only now starting to heal. Annette Anderson was the not the woman he fell in love with. But he often wondered how much of a role he played in her change.

"Annette, Blaine is fine. He's actually better than fine. He hasn't been harassed by reporters since that first day. The school has very strict policies and has been enforcing them. They got an anonymous private donation and were able to hire actual security guards for the campus. He gets a ride to and from school every morning. He's good."

"You just don't get it. This is not the kind of life I wanted for Blaine. I wanted him to have a normal life with an attentive father who didn't spend all of his time building robots! I didn't want him growing up in your world of craziness and loose women."

"Really?! The kid likes the craziness and the robots. Even Cooper liked the robots and he hates anything that requires him to actually think or read! Also, you know damn well there haven't been any loose women in years. It's just Pepper now."

"Right," Annette drawled. "Pepper. She's still hanging around, huh?"

Tony clenched his jaw. He knew she was trying to provoke him. She always took a shot at Pepper when she was trying to get to him. So he took a deep breath, and rolled his shoulders. "Yes, Pepper is still hanging around. I think she'll probably be around for quite some time too. I don't think she has any intention of stealing off into the middle of the night taking my son and unborn child with her."

Annette rolled her eyes and rested her hip against the kitchen counter. "How much longer are you going to try and throw that in my face? I get it. I was wrong. I should've told you about Blaine. But I didn't. And every day you continue to prove why that was for the best. You have never led the kind of life designed to raise a child. Now you're playing superhero? How does Blaine fit in there? How is he supposed to get what he needs when he has to share you with your company, Pepper, your band of freaks and the rest of the world? And on that note, how dare you bring those people around my children without my permission?!"

"There is so much wrong in everything you just said that I'm actually at a loss as to where to begin correcting it. Nope, I lied. I do know. Blaine and Cooper are and have always been my number one priority. If they asked me to give up being Iron Man today, I would gladly do so. Neither of them have ever complained about not getting what they need from me. Because they know they come first. The only reason I don't spend more time with Blaine is because of you and you know it."

Annette opened her mouth to protest but he held up a hand. "And as for my 'band of freaks' that was the only time you get to talk about them that way. And I would've asked your permission to bring them along except for two little things you seem to be forgetting."

"And what's that?"

"One, you were out of the country. Again. You've been MIA for the past two months. That's right. Blaine finally told me the truth. You've been leaving him home alone for several months at a time. And you're lecturing me on not giving our son what he needs? Two, I can invite who I want to this house when I want because I bought the damn thing. I bought you this house, Annette. And I can damn well bring anyone that I like into the house that I bought. Especially when those people have been more involved in your son's life in the past month than you have since he was born!"

Annette tried to argue again but Tony was done. He hated arguing with his ex but that was primarily the only way they communicated these days. The woman he loved once upon a time was gone and in her place was this… harpy who only looked at her sons as a means to an ends. He wanted to blame Stanley's influence but truthfully the other man was a bit of a pushover and Annette was always manipulative. Tony was just so stupidly in love he failed to see it when they were together. But now with Blaine in the equation, it was all he could see.

"Annie, we're done here. There is nothing left to discuss. I know that you're going to use this as an excuse to skip out of town again. But before you do, can you do me a favor and at least pretend to be a mother to your sons for at least a couple of hours?"

He left before she could even try and open her mouth again. He stomped out the kitchen and into the living room to find the room was pretty much empty. Not surprisingly but the return of the Anderson couple signaled the end of the party. Puck, Sam, Santana and Brittany opted to go home for once and Cooper and Blaine volunteered to drop them off. Phil and Nick were actually staying in the same hotel as Jane, Darcy and Thor. Tony really wanted the details on that one. He also wondered where Natasha, Steve and Bruce disappeared to as there was no sign of them in the living room. But he did find their final player. Clint was reclined on the sofa with his legs upright and reading from a book resting on his propped up legs. Tony smiled as he heard the archer quietly singing. In that moment, he was truly the epitome of relaxation. But Tony didn't doubt for a second that Clint knew he was standing there. That's why he started talking without announcing himself.

"_O-O-H Child_? A little before your time, isn't it, Junior?"

Clint snorted, never tearing his eyes away from the book. "I regret sharing how old I am."

"No, you don't," Tony grinned, stepping further into the room. Clint gave a non-committal grunt in response. "Didn't know you could sing, Agent Barton. You are a man of many talents. Something else you pick up in SHIELD Academy?"

"From my mom actually," Clint admitted. A wistful smile formed on his lips. "She loved music. It was like her life. She had this friend that loved music just as much as her. She had this idea that she was going to make all these mixed tapes for her son so he could share the music from when she was young with him. Mom wanted to do the same with me and Barney. But Barney was a tone deaf bastard who didn't like music and our dad was just a bastard. So yeah, she used to sing to me all the time. And I guess I just picked it up from her."

Tony nodded. "I'm guessing _O-O-H Child_ is a personal favorite, huh? Just never thought that would be your kind of music."

"It's a good song," Clint defended with a smile. "It's the kind of song that's so powerful that it could save the galaxy one day."

"Well we did save the world with a time displaced super soldier, an alcoholic narcissistic genius, an archer, a gun wielding assassin, an alien god and a giant green rage beast. So stranger things could probably happen. Like the galaxy being saved by a song from the 70s."

"I knew there was a reason I talked to you."

Tony snorted. "Whatever happened to your mom's friend? Did her kid end up loving music like she planned? Clearly worked with you."

"Don't know. I didn't really get a chance to know either of them very well. She died of cancer when I was like four. Her son disappeared the day she died. Then my mom died two years later. I never really gave either one of them much thought for awhile after that."

Tony was instantly sorry he asked. He was starting to really understand that while the Loki situation was horrible, it was far from the most terrible thing that happened to the younger man in his painfully short years of existence. And yet he never seemed to complain. Outside of his little stunt with the resignation letter, he never really seemed to draw attention to himself. He still was able to show compassion to others and to trust. He was kind of inspirational… if Tony was the type of person that needed inspiration of course.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Clint asked, peering over the top of his book. Tony just grinned. Clint glared. That's when Tony finally recognized the cover of the book the other man was reading.

"_Harry Potter_?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. The corners of Clint's mouth ticked up. "Didn't take you for a fan of Hogwarts's Finest."

"If you're only going based on fame then yes, Harry would be Hogwarts's finest. But if you're going from a purely academic perspective then it's kind of obviously Hermione. Harry really only gets by because of that whole Boy that Lived shtick."

"Oh my god, you're a Harry Potter nerd!"

Clint finally tore his eyes away from the book to frown in Tony's direction. Tony bit back a smile as he noticed the slight flush in the archer's cheeks. "Shut up, Tony!"

"Where'd you get the books anyway? This is the first time I've seen you reading since we got here."

"Birthday gift," Clint replied somewhat hesitantly. "From Phil. He gave me the first four books on my first birthday with SHIELD. He kept adding to them through the years. But they were lost when my old apartment burned down a few years ago." He patted a box on the floor beside him. "He replaced them all and got me _The Lord of Rings _series and _The Hunger Games_."

"You really like reading, huh?"

"Growing up…. That's really all I could do. I read everything I could get my hands on. When I joined SHIELD, that's how Phil got me to start opening up. He bought me off with books. He just started leaving them around. One time I found one in my sniper's nest."

"Nerd," Tony teased. He flopped down on the sofa. Clint stretched out a foot to kick him on the thigh. Tony laughed and pulled the younger man's legs so they were resting on his lap. Clint gave him a look, shrugged and picked up his book again. Tony leaned his head, enjoying the peace and quiet, especially after yet another argument with Annette. The silence was comfortable and almost familiar. It felt… nice.

"You know it's not just Blaine I want to move in the Tower, right?" Tony finally asked. He glanced out the corner of his eye to see Clint's grip on the book tighten minutely. "Puck and Santana are joining the Academy and they're going to be in New York anyway. They're moving in and that means that Steve will move in too. Bruce has gotten spoiled by clean running water and indoor plumbing, so he's moving in. Thor, well, it's Thor. Pretty sure he'll be bouncing back and forth between Jane and us. So that really only leaves our spies up in the air."

Clint shifted but he didn't leave. He took a deep breath. "You really want us to move in?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I, uh, I don't know. I mean you want me to be around your son full time?"

"Uh, you've been around my son full time this entire month."

"Yeah, but that's different. We knew it was short term. You're asking me to move in permanently."

"Well, do you have somewhere else to go?" Clint shook his head minutely. "So there shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Clint chewed on his lip and it was the most uncertain Tony had seen the younger man since he declared that the man was Blaine's uncle. They were making progress but there was still clearly so much more work they all needed to do to convince Clint that he belonged.

"Have you given any thought to what you're doing once we leave Ohio? I mean are you going back to SHIELD?"

Clint let out a breath. "I actually don't know. Phil mentioned something about working with a team that Fury set up for him. I don't think I'm on that team. So I really don't know where I'm going after this."

Tony nodded. "Well, you it seems like the Avengers will still be a thing. You know you always have a place there." Clint didn't say anything. He instead kept looking at his book but Tony knew he wasn't reading anymore. Finally after a few tense minutes, Clint spoke again.

"You didn't tell his mother," Clint mumbled. Of all the things he could've said, that was definitely not what Tony was expecting. Tony arched an eyebrow as Clint finally put the book down and met his gaze. "Blaine's mom. You didn't tell her that he's moving in with you. And you only said that you wanted him to move in. You know he's moving in, right?"

Tony sighed. "I know I want him to… but Annette is also right. I'm a superhero. How am I supposed to raise a kid in between barely running a company and trying to save the world?"

"What is it that you told me when I asked you what an uncle does? You told me that Blaine was different. He didn't need anything extra. Why do you think he would need anything more once he moves in with you? I think that would be more than enough. I didn't know Blaine before, kind of obviously. But I did talk to Puck and Sam and they've both told me that he seems happier now. And that's just because you're here. Trust me, that's all he wants. That's all any kid wants. To have their parents around."

Tony exhaled slowly. "Kind of like you and Phil?"

"Yeah," Clint admitted, chewing on his lip again. "Before… I didn't have anything that was constant. Then I got Phil and he was the only constant thing I had in my life. I have Nick and Melinda sometimes but I know that they would both lie to me in a heartbeat if they thought that they had to. Phil was the only one I could trust till Nat came along. Now there's all of you. It's scaring me a little to be completely honest. I really don't want to lose this or wreck it because that's what I do. I ruin things because I can't deal. Good things don't happen to me that often."

"I'm sure you've read my file before. You know who I was before I built the suit. I was very far from a good man. And the only the only people I could let in were Pepper and Rhodey. I barely let Cooper in and he's my kid. So trust me, this whole Avenger thing scares the hell out of me too. But I'm willing to give a shot. Maybe we could try this together?"

Clint met his gaze and nodded slowly. "Is it still going to be Stark Tower?"

"Nah, most of the letters in Stark fell off thanks to Thor and Loki's sibling squabble. Oh and the huge alien invasion. Funny thing though, every letter but the A broke off. I thought it might be my sign. I was actually thinking of naming it the Avenger Tower. What do you think?"

"I think… that this could work," Clint gave him a small smile. Then he frowned. "We get our own rooms right? Like I could have my own floor?"

"Sure," Tony shrugged. "Why?"

"Because there is no way in hell I want to be anywhere near Blaine and Sam once they move to New York and he's away from the epic fail that is that half in-half out relationship thing he's doing with Kurt."

Tony's brow furrowed. "You have gossip on my son and you're not sharing."

Clint smirked. "You'll figure it out eventually. Just know that you have nothing to worry about with Blaine. I think moving to New York is the best thing for him. Something out there wants all of them together. Starting to think something out there wants all of us together. So why fight it? And why worry about it? Let's just see it through."

Tony nodded. "When did you get so smart?"

Clint held up his book while his other hand idly tapped the box on the floor. "I read."

"Yeah? Well, read to me."

Clint grinned, reaching into the box and pulling out _Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban_. "I know it's not the first one. But it's kind of my favorite."

Tony grinned. "Mine too."

"Cool," Clint mumbled before opening the book and starting to read out loud.

Tony closed his eyes and relaxed to the sound of Clint's voice. He knew Blaine considered the rest of the Avengers to be his uncles and aunt, and he was fine with that. He encouraged it even because he wanted Blaine to have a family. And he trusted the rest of his team to protect his son. But while he was starting to make progress in his relationship with Steve, Tony was a little more reluctant to consider the other Avengers to be his siblings... yet. It could still happen, maybe. Clint, however, was different. From the minute he locked eyes with Clint when the younger agent was hiding on the china cabinet, Tony knew he had all but actually adopted him as family. He liked to think it worked both ways. He didn't see Clint reading out loud to Bruce or Steve. So yeah, Clint was different. Clint was the little brother he never got to have but finally found. He was definitely keeping the archer close by.

As he started to drift off, he made a mental note to have Pepper look into the intricacies of adopting a sibling. That was a thing, right? People did that? Oh, well he's rich. He could make it happen. And he totally would too. On that note, he was definitely arranging for a name change for Blaine too. Blaine Michael Anderson? Please, Blaine Anthony Stark was so much better.

* * *

><p>*And done! For now anyway. I'll be back soon with more. I think there will be an actual plot next chapter. Or at least the kickoff of some plot. I know they've been pretty much hanging out for the last few chapters. So expect stuff to happen next chapter. Also was it totally obvious that I've been binge watching <em>Agents of SHIELD<em>? And when I wasn't binge watching (like when I was forced out into society), I was watching _Guardians of the Galaxy_ obsessively on my phone. Yeah, I got issues. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!


	7. I Believe We'll Be Ok

**Summary:** As Iron Man flew towards the Chitauri portal he had only one person on his mind: his youngest son, Blaine Anderson. Blaine has always been Tony's best kept (read only) secret. He really should've known that one little phone call was going to change everything. But what he didn't know was that he wasn't the only Avenger whose life was going to change.

**Pairings**: Established Vague!Clintasha, Pepperony, Klaine, Finnchel. Pucktana, Puckleberry, Brittana, Pezberry friendships. And as always, Blamman bromance with The Science Bros and their plus one (Clint).

**Warnings**: Language, I guess, because I have a potty mouth damn it. Also a strong possibility for crackish behaviors, Sam being a fangirl and Kurt bashing. Spoilers for _The Avengers_ and up to season four of _Glee_.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except typos! Those are definitely all mine. This is set at the end of the season three of _Glee_ and the end of _The Avengers_.

**Author's Note****: **Happy Holidays! Not much to say here. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>I Believe We'll Be Okay <strong>

Something wasn't right. Clint didn't know exactly what it was but there was just something about today that didn't seem right. It wasn't even that he was currently piloting a jet to Canada. That didn't bother him so much actually. He was starting to get a little stir crazy just hanging out at the Anderson home, so this simple mission was a blessing in disguise. Fury assured them it would be a short one. They were simply to investigate the rumbles that HYDRA was making a comeback. According to Nick, he really didn't believe there was anything to that rumor but it wouldn't hurt to check it out. He assigned that task to Steve and Natasha. Naturally they were both offended that Clint wasn't asked to go as well and insisted that he come with them. When the trio announced they were leaving, Tony protested stating that he was going if Clint was going. Bruce chimed in that he wasn't going to be left behind. And Thor was there because… he was Thor. So now all six Avengers were off on a BS mission while the kids were home alone (well, alone with Jane, Darcy, Cooper and the Anderson couple).

"One of us should've stayed," Clint mumbled out loud. That's what was bothering him. They were too far away. Fury was back in DC temporarily meeting with Secretary Pierce. Coulson was meeting with his new team (and no that didn't sting even a little). They would be back with plenty of time for the kids' graduation but the fact that they were all gone just wasn't settling right with Clint. Something seemed off. But he couldn't voice that aloud without seeming paranoid or even worse that he didn't trust the kids. He did trust them. They were smart and they were resilient. They could all easily be SHIELD trainees. That wasn't the problem. The problem was… well, he didn't know. He just knew that something wasn't right.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Natasha asked, her voice was barely a whisper but still loud enough to fill the space between his seat and that of his lovely copilot.

"Just thinking how much of a mess Stark is going to have to deal with when we get back. You know they're going to throw a party while we're gone."

"I'm pretty sure Tony would be horribly disappointed if they didn't," Natasha countered with a smile. "You know his idea of teenagers comes from teen movies."

"Pretty sure mine does too," Clint argued. She smacked him on the arm.

"Really though, Hawk. What's going on in that weird brain of yours?"

He sighed. "I just feel like maybe we didn't all need to go on this, you know? Maybe I should've stayed behind. Or Thor or someone."

"Clint, the more people we have on this, the quicker we can solve it and be back home." Natasha tensed suddenly at the words that just left her mouth. "Home."

"So Lima, Ohio is home?"

He didn't need to look to know that she was rolling her eyes at him. "No, home is the Avengers and our little junior Avengers. And we're going to get back to that soon. We're just going to do this mission and then we can go back."

"Yeah, I guess," Clint shrugged. Natasha had a point. This was a simple recon mission. Chances are they wouldn't find anything. Really Clint was convinced this was just a way to get them out of the house. HYDRA was long gone thanks to Agent Carter, Howard Stark and the Howling Commandos. So the likelihood of them finding anything was slim to none. They would be back in Ohio before the day was over. But if there was some truth to the rumors, well then having the whole team there would be the best bet. It would be the quickest way to shut them down and keep them down. So Natasha was right and he was being paranoid. He glanced at his partner out the corner of his eye. "You sure you're feeling okay over there, Nat?"

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"I don't know. You're usually not the type to just blurt out your emotions. But now you're talking about families and homes and admitting that we're dating. Just want to make sure that you're not dying on me."

"Oh shut up!" Natasha hissed though he could hear the smile in her voice.

"Quick poll, would it be inappropriate to arrange for a keg to be delivered to the house tonight?" Tony asked. Clint arched an eyebrow but was happy that he wasn't the only one confused. "I'm just saying, if they're going to throw a party then they need to do it right."

"How do you even know they're going to throw a party? They seemed like they were just going to lay low and avoid Blaine's mom."

"I know," Tony sighed as if this was the most disappointing thing he ever heard. "Thankfully Cooper is there to pick up the slack from his terribly mature and overly responsible little brother. I really don't know where he gets that from."

"Do you even hear yourself when you talk?" Steve wondered. Clint didn't need to look to know that Tony's face was the picture of innocence and confusion. He had seen that particular expression a lot during the past month on both the face of Tony as well as his Mini Me. Despite his apparent lack of interest in throwing a house party, Blaine was Tony's son through and through. Although one did have to wonder where he got that maturity from.

Clint smiled softly at the thought of his self-appointed nephew. Maybe Natasha was right and this feeling was only because he felt comfortable and stable in Lima. For the first time he had more family than just Phil, Nick and Natasha. He found a few older brothers in Tony, Steve and Bruce, two little siblings in Puck and Santana, a weird yet loveable cousin in Brittany and nephews in Sam and Blaine. So the bad feeling was probably because this was the first time they were going on a mission since they met the kids. That had to be it. Satisfied with that conclusion, Clint sat back in the pilot seat and let the banter and bickering from his teammates flow over him. He slowly felt his earlier anxiety fade to nothing. Everything was going to be fine.

* * *

><p>Everything was far from fine. Like seriously everything was completely screwed up. Blaine actually didn't know the necessary words to convey just how screwed up this situation was. First, he woke up to his father casually dropping that he and the rest of the Avengers were leaving for a few days to go on some mission in Canada. Then he gets told that Jane would be keeping an eye on them because technically they were still kids. His dad then muttered something about not throwing a party that Blaine knew wasn't so much an order against throwing a party but really a suggestion that they <em>should<em> be throwing a party. And that's where things got screwed up. Because Cooper and Darcy were taking that to heart. The two social misfits took one look at the other and realized they found a kindred soul in insanity. Blaine would be less concerned if he didn't know that his father was totally in approval of this.

"Dude, your dad just had a keg delivered to the house," Puck announced as they strolled from the parking lot towards McKinley High School. Blaine glanced back at him with an arched eyebrow. Puck held up his phone where brightly colored text announced a party at their place. "Yeah, pretty sure Cooper invited most of the upperclassmen. If you still have a house after this I would be surprised.

"Good thing we're moving, huh?" Blaine asked with a grin. He glanced over his shoulder at Sam, Santana and Brittany who were busily texting out further invitations. The trio had been recruited by Darcy on their way to school that morning. Not that any of them were entirely reluctant to get involved. Blaine was pretty sure that they all would've volunteered if Darcy hadn't pounced on them as soon as she saw them. "We're screwed."

"Uh huh," Puck murmured. Blaine glanced up to see that the older teen was distracted by something across the parking lot. There were a large group of men pulling supplies out of a van. The van was a typical supply van that bore the words "Peterson's Pool Repair" on the side. Blaine idly remembered something about the pool being broken recently. Looks like Figgins finally got around to fixing it. Took him long enough.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked when it seemed that Puck wasn't going to move from that spot and was seemingly content with staring at the men. "Puck? You ok?"

Puck shook his head. "Yeah, sorry. I'm fine. Just… yeah, I spaced out a little." He mustered a smile before shoving his hands in his pockets. But Blaine noticed he kept glancing over at the pool men. That is until he ran into another distraction, this time in the form of one Rachel Berry. Blaine had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing as they watched the pint sized diva trying to pull a rather large speaker out of the back of a moving van. Puck ran forward (a little too quickly… stupid super solider formula) to help her.

"Oh, thanks, Noah," Rachel said, sounding both flustered and happy. She smiled up at him. "You're stronger than I remembered." Puck's brow furrowed before he realized that he was holding a rather large speaker upright with only one hand. He grinned sheepishly and placed the speaker on the ground.

"What are you doing with all this crap?"

"Oh, well since I will be moving to New York soon, Dad and Daddy think that it's probably best if I donated the sound room equipment to someone worthy. And the glee club's equipment is sadly lacking. So I'm donating it to New Directions."

Puck smiled at her rambling answer and leaned against the open van door. "Ok, but why are you moving it by yourself? No offense, Berry, but I'm pretty sure that speaker weighs more than you do. Actually I know for a fact that the speaker weighs more than you."

Rachel hit him on the arm and Blaine knew for a fact that it hurt her more than it hurt him. "I'm not moving this by myself. I'm waiting for Finn. He had to get to school earlier this morning but he's going to meet me out here to help me bring the things inside."

"How late is he?"

"Only twenty minutes," she admitted. "But I sent him a text and he's on his way."

"You want me to help?"

Rachel shook her head. "You're sweet, Noah. But no. I'm ok. Finn will be out here soon and he can help. You should go. I'm pretty sure you have a party to plan."

Puck rolled his eyes. "That damn party… you're coming though, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," she smiled in response. "Besides I hear it's supposed to be the party of the century. Apparently nothing else will happen in our puny little lives that would be bigger than this."

"They didn't seriously write that…." Blaine trailed off as he opened the invitation on Facebook and yes, yes they did write that. And he knew that Darcy and Cooper meant it. Because it needed to be repeated that Blaine's brother and Puck's questionably sane cousin were teaming up to throw a party with the approval and guidance of Blaine's unquestionably insane father and the assistance of the equally off Santana, Brittany and Sam. Yeah, the house was a goner. Still it would be worth it just to see Puck and Rachel continue to do their weird, flirty and adorably awkward dance around one another.

Blaine reluctantly looked away from the future couple in the making to see if the other three had noticed. They stopped moving for sure but their whole focus was on the continued efforts to enable the destruction of the Anderson household. He shrugged and started to look back to Rachel and Puck when he noticed that the pool guys were watching them. As soon as they noticed his attention, they looked away consumed with getting their supplies and tools together but Blaine knew what he saw. They were totally looking at him. That was weird. But he brushed it off as catching Puck's paranoia. They were just the pool repair men. There wasn't anything more to it.

Blaine shed his earlier worries about pool guys and focused only on the upcoming party. There was nothing to be concerned about. This was the last day of school… well for them. Tony had worked it out with the school that none of them needed to come back after the graduation ceremony was over and done with. The school would be mailing their diplomas and final report cards straight to the newly minted Avengers Tower in New York at the conclusion of the school year. So this was the last day and Blaine was determined not to let paranoid thoughts of potential kidnappings ruin that for him. Nope, he was definitely not going to think about it… especially since Puck appeared to be prepared to think about it for him.

"Where's the security team?" Puck asked as they walked into the school. Normally there were at least two men stationed by the front door but now there was no one. Blaine felt an inkling of concern growing again but he pushed the thought out again. He was determined to believe that everything was fine.

"Hey, my phone just died," Santana muttered.

"Mine too," Sam chimed in. Brittany nodded. The trio looked up as if finally noticing they were inside the school building. "Where are the security dudes?"

Blaine glanced down at his phone and found that he also didn't have a signal. He didn't need to look to know that Puck was also lacking a signal. There were a few more disgruntled cries from the gathered students that confirmed the lack of signal was a thing. Blaine closed his eyes and let out a sigh. So yeah, this was definitely happening.

"Guys," Puck whispered, pulling the group to the side. "I think that something is definitely wrong. Grab as many of the gleeks as you can and get to the costume room in the auditorium."

"Why there?"

"It's the most secure room in this whole building," Santana answered for Puck. "It locks from the inside and there is only one key. Well two if you count the one Puck and I had made so we had somewhere private to bring our hookups. Not to mention it's pretty well hidden and it's big enough for all of us to fit in there."

"And Mrs. Cole doesn't believe in modern technology so there's a rotary phone in there," Puck finished. "I don't know what just killed all our reception but we may be able to make a call out with that phone. Now go."

Blaine huffed and started down a hallway when he felt a hand on his arm. "Not you, genius. You get your ass down there right away."

"Why just me? How do we even know they're here for me? They could be here for…." Blaine trailed off at the look on Puck's face. He definitely learned that one from Steve. So annoying. "Fine, I'm going down to the costume room to be hidden and protected while all my friends roam the halls and are moving targets."

"Glad you can see reason!" Santana grinned. "Britt, go with him and make sure that he stays there. Sammy, Puck, let's get the rest of the club." Both Sam and Puck nodded before splitting off to do just that. Santana held Blaine's hand for a brief moment. "I know you're angry right now but we just want you to be safe. And we don't want the rest of the glee club being used for leverage."

"I get it," Blaine sighed, realizing that his attitude wasn't helping. But he hated feeling helpless. "I really do. I just don't like it."

"You wouldn't be you if you did like this," Santana pointed out. She gave him a brief hug before weaving her way through the annoyed student body still complaining about their lack of reception. Brittany grabbed his arm and hurried them both down to the auditorium and backstage to the spacious costume room.

He felt bad about not warning the other students but he knew that for one his friends were right. These people weren't coming after the rest of the students. They were after Blaine and they probably weren't above using people against him. The glee club were his biggest weakness because he would definitely hand himself over to protect one of them… even Kurt. He also knew that Santana and Puck were taking their status as new SHIELD recruits very seriously and had been talking with Natasha and Clint way too much. They probably were already working on a contingency plan to deal with the potential cannon fodder that was the rest of the McKinley students. So it was really just a matter of waiting.

And wait he did. He waited as his anxiety rose. Brittany was sitting beside him holding onto his hand and offering silent support. She managed to find the phone and had gotten through to Darcy. She had just explained the situation when the phone lines were cut. And now they were completely cut off. Just when he felt like he was about the burst out of his skin, they heard the fire alarm ringing along with the sound of panicked screaming and running feet.

Both Brittany and Blaine looked up when they heard a pounding on the door. Bizarrely enough they recognized the pattern of the knocking. "_New York State of Mind_?" Blaine murmured. He rose to his feet and swung open the door revealing the pale and somewhat terrified faces of the glee club with Santana herding them in along with Sam and Mr. Schuester. Blaine let out a sigh of relief as they all walked into the room (even Kurt) that is until he noticed that Rachel and Puck weren't with them. Before he could even open his mouth, Sam was ready with an answer.

"Puck couldn't find Rachel and then he remembered she was outside in the parking lot waiting for Finn. But Finn forgot he was supposed to be out there. Again. So Rachel is just sitting out in the parking lot."

"Naturally that means that Puck has to go play hero," Brittany commented, rolling her eyes. "This is your fault, Finn."

"Actually," Artie drawled. "I think it's pretty safe to say that there is one person who we can all blame for this one." Blaine swallowed, prepared to take their anger. "This is hands down all your fault, Kurt!"

"Me? I'm not the one with the superhero billionaire father!"

"No, but you're the one that ran his mouth and told everyone about Blaine's superhero billionaire father!" Quinn retorted. Kurt looked indignant but no one was listening. Blaine smiled softly. At least they didn't all blame him. Even if his (ex?) boyfriend clearly did.

"Ignore Kurt," Brittany said, squeezing his hand. "He's an idiot. This isn't your fault. You definitely didn't want anyone to know. And you didn't ask for men to invade the school and try to kidnap you. I think Darcy got the message. So any minute now the Avengers should be coming to our rescue."

Blaine mustered a weak smile. He knew as well as Brittany that any rescue from the Avengers would be a long way in coming. They were most likely already in Canada. So it would take hours for them to regroup and fly back. Hours that they might not have depending on how serious these guys were about kidnapping Blaine.

Then there was another knock on the door. It was more hesitant. Santana motioned for the others to hang back (ignoring Will's protests about being the adult in the room) and she crept up to the door. She cracked it open to get a better look at who it was. She gasped in surprise before pulling someone in and closing the door tightly behind them.

Less than hour ago (was it really only an hour?!), Rachel Berry was the very picture of well put together. But now? Rachel wasn't in the habit of wearing a lot of makeup or spending hours on her hair but she always looked flawless. That is until now. Now she looked broken and scared…. Alone. Mercedes and Quinn were by her side the second she was safely ushered in the room. Blaine noticed Santana looking around as if Puck had slipped into the room unnoticed. When she finally realized he wasn't there and wasn't likely to be there any time soon, she turned on Rachel with wide, wild eyes.

"Where is he? Where is Puck?!"

Rachel shrank back from the visibly angry Latina. "They took him. The men that… they took him. They took Noah."

"Why would they do that? Why would they take him and not you?"

Blaine knew that Santana really didn't want Rachel kidnapped and thankfully Rachel got that as well as she continued to answer the rapid-fire questions being thrown at her by the mentally unhinged Santana.

"They took him because they know he's important to Blaine. They let me go to deliver the message that they have Noah. And they're going to kill him if they don't get Blaine by the end of the day. They said that they would contact you to tell you when and where the exchange is to take place."

Santana shook her head. "No. This isn't how… this shouldn't be happening now. We're not even agents yet. We haven't... He can't…." she trailed off, whirling around to meet Blaine's gaze. In that brief moment, he saw the dozens of emotions that Santana usually kept a tight lid on. Emotions that only her close friends could bring out of her.

He knew that Santana were close. They were damn near inseparable as kids, grew apart for a while in their early teen years but were back to being inseparable once again as if nothing ever happen to break that cycle. The pair practically shared a brain. If there was one thing or person that Santana Lopez valued in this world, it was Noah Puckerman. And something just dared to take that from her. He didn't really want to think about what she would do to get that back. Although he had a feeling that it was pretty much along the line of what he was prepared to do to get their friend back safely.

"No."

Blaine tensed as he noticed that Santana was still staring at him. "What?"

"No, you giving yourself up is not an option."

"They took Puck! They did it to get to me. If we just give them what they want, they'll give him back."

"Really?" Sam scoffed. "You really think those guys have any intention of handing Puck back over to us if they get you?"

"But it's better than nothing! We have to try something."

"Shut up!" Santana hissed, cutting him off. "Just shut up. Get this through that shellacked nightmare you call a head. Neither of you is an acceptable loss. I'm not letting you give yourself up because I can't lose you either. I can't lose any of you idiots. Now shut up and let me think about a plan that doesn't involve sacrifices and crap."

Blaine opened his mouth but wisely shut it as Santana threw him a dark glare. Brittany pulled him down onto the seat beside her. Sam sat on his free side, keeping him sandwiched between the two blondes. They watched as Santana paced, raking a hand through her hair. She stopped when her eyes landed on the bracelet on her left wrist. She then looked up at the still shaken Rachel who was being held by Finn.

"Did he have his bracelet on when they grabbed him?"

Rachel blinked but looked thoughtful. "Um, you mean the one that matches yours?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Yes, I believe he did…. Is that important?"

Santana beamed in her direction. "It is very important, Midget. Because our bracelets come with a tracker!"

"A what?" was the chorused and well harmonized response from the rest of the glee club. Santana rolled her eyes.

"I have heard the stories from Natasha. Clint is the absolute worst. And if Puck is picking him as a role model then it stands to reason that he'll be blowing himself up or going missing on an ongoing basis. I figure I'd get started on the creative tracker locations. So I gave this to him as a graduation present last week. Good timing too." Blaine continued to stare incredulously. "Oh come on. Try not to look so surprised. It was your dad that helped me."

Blaine gave a weak chuckle despite himself. Everything was still crap but he couldn't help but laugh at the idea of Santana forcing his father to make a tracker bracelet for Clint's new Mini Me (although not a fair or accurate nickname since Puck was taller than Clint). But with the knowledge that they could track Puck's location soon enough, Blaine felt a little better. He felt a lot better when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. Santana, Brittany and Sam were all looking at their own ringing phones. The quartet shared amused looks after realizing they were all being called by a member of the Avengers.

"Hey, Dad," Blaine answered, keeping an idle eye on his friends.

"_Kid, what the hell is going on? Your school was taken over by pool cleaning ninjas?"_

"What?"

"_Darcy called Steve and sat that Brittany told her that masked men with pool cleaning supplies took the school hostage!"_

Blaine pinched the bridge of his nose. "They weren't masked. I don't even think those were really pool repair supplies. But that's not even the point. They came here for me, Dad. But they took Puck. They took him to get to me."

There was a pause as Tony listened to something on his end of the line. Finally he let out a deep breath. "_Hey, kid. I want you to listen to me. Darcy is coming to get you guys and take you home. Try to relax. We're going to get Puck back. Natasha got the coordinates from the tracker already up. They didn't get very far and we're only a few hours out. We're going to get him back, I promise you_."

Blaine closed his eyes, praying that the stubborn tears that were building wouldn't fall. As was the day's norm it seemed, his prayer went unanswered. He swiped angrily at the stray tear and turned his back on his friends and the rest of the club. "This is my fault, dad. They knew he was my friend and that's why they took him."

"_Blaine, it's not fault. If anything it's my fault for being who I am. Or Steve's for knocking up Peggy 70 years ago." He stopped again as Steve let him know how he felt about that. "Look, I know you're probably blaming yourself for this but I need you to keep it together for now. We're going to get him back. When have I ever broken a promise to you?"_

"Never," Blaine murmured. "Thanks, dad."

"_Anytime, kiddo. I'll see you soon, ok?"_

"Ok," Blaine swallowed the lump in his throat. "Love you, dad."

"_Love you too, sap."_

Blaine smiled softly as the phone disconnected. He took a deep soothing breath and finally looked up to meet the others. Santana gave him an encouraging smile which helped to calm him a little more.

"Let's go. It's Darcy. She probably started driving here the second she got off the phone with Brittany. She should be here already."

Blaine nodded absently and let Sam and Brittany start maneuvering him towards the door. He felt like he was in a fog. Everything was happening around him in some sort of hazy shimmer. He didn't know how long this was going to last… or if it was ever going to end. What he did know that is that he wanted his bed, his dad and Puck. Maybe not necessarily altogether or in that order. But those were the three things that he felt the universe owed him right now. That's what he needed to be ok.

* * *

><p>Blaine was not ok. Santana was actually really concerned that he might be going into shock or something. She wasn't exactly a medical expert but she did have some experience with shock. She was there when Puck broke his ankle once. He claimed he was fine at first but then the pain hit along with the fading. She was pretty adept at reading Puck's mental state through his eyes and she saw that his attention and focus was drifting in and out. Not unlike Blaine at the moment.<p>

The four friends left the rest of the glee club still in the costume room. They had done their part in keeping them safe. The danger was over now. Now they needed to work on the recovery part and they didn't need any of the gleeks for that. Just each other. Sadly, it seemed as those a few of the gleeks missed the memo where their presence wasn't needed.

"Wait," Rachel called out. Santana sighed and turned around to see Rachel followed closely by Kurt running towards them. "We're coming with you."

"No, you're not," Santana countered. Rachel opened her mouth. "Ok, look, Berry. Here's the thing. I don't actually hate you anymore. You're kind of nice and we probably could be actual friends. But the thing is that you have this weird back and forth shit going on with Puck that I really need you to stop. Because it gives off mixed signals and it's not you that has to deal with the fallout, it's me. And I'm tired of dealing with it. Besides, he's got a lot going on in his life right now. And he doesn't need your indecisiveness messing with his head."

"I don't know what you're…." Rachel trailed off. Santana raised an eyebrow.

"Really, Berry? I've known you guys since we were kids. I know about your whole magical Jew connection. And I get it. Like I said, I kind of actually like you. I think you and Puckerman would be really awesome together. But I'm tired of watching him hurt because you can't figure out who the right guy is. So I'm not letting you near him until you figure it out. I couldn't protect him from being kidnapped but I can damn well protect him from getting his heart broken again."

Rachel swallowed, her face was a bright cherry red. "Oh, well, if you could just…."

"I'll call you when we get him back. I know he's your friend and you care. But we both know it's more than that. We both know and so does Puck. So do both of you a favor and figure out what you want before you hurt him."

"Right," Rachel nodded. "I, uh, I should probably get back….. Finn." She whirled on her heels and stalked away from the group as fast as possible for a girl that short.

"Damn, San," Sam mumbled. Santana gave him a look. He smirked. "Remind me not get on your bad side."

"You live on my bad side, Trouty Mouth. Let's roll."

Their efforts to move forward were once again in vain as they all heard the not at all subtle throat clearing behind them. In her haste to deal with the whole stunted Puckleberry nonsense, Santana forgot that Kurt was with Rachel and that he was still standing there. She snuck a glance at Blaine, hoping that he was still out of it. But of course, the universe was against her and Blaine was suddenly focused on his erstwhile boyfriend.

"You're not talking me out of this. I'm going with you," Kurt said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Clearly Blaine needs support and I'm his boyfriend. You're not going to try and bully me out of this, Santana Lopez."

"Seriously, Porcelain. I'm so not in the mood for this shit today. One of my best friends was kidnapped by people gunning for one of my other best friends. So cut the crap and take your ass back in that room with the others. Or not. I don't actually care just leave us the hell alone."

"Best friends?" Kurt repeated with an arched eyebrow. "You barely know him! You've been hanging out for a month and suddenly you're this happy little family? Admit it. You guys are only pretending to be his friend so you can get some of his father's money!"

Santana felt her jaw drop. Because really? He actually said that? He actually thought that? Wait, did Blaine think that? Did Tony? She looked up to similar expression on Brittany and Sam's face. They did come together very quickly. And it was after the whole Tony is Blaine's dad reveal but it was never about money to any of them. First it was comforting Blaine. Then it was chasing the feeling of belonging after their first meeting with the Avengers. Now it was all about their family. Blaine had to know that…. Right?

A sharp crack broke the silence in the hallway and Santana looked up in just in time to see Blaine pulling back from the damn near full body slap he just delivered. Well damn.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked, holding a hand to his no doubt stinging cheek.

"Are you just completely oblivious or just really that stupid?!" Blaine spat venomously. "You think San, Sam, Britt and Puck are here for my dad's money?! You think either me or my dad would be stupid enough to fall for that?! I know you don't get why we're suddenly all friends. Hell, we don't get it either but we are. I feel more comfortable with them than I have in probably my whole life. Furthermore you don't need to understand. You just need to accept it. And also accept that if you ever talk shit about my family again, I'll do a lot worse than just slap you."

"I don't know what's going on with you lately but…."

"You don't? You don't have even the slightest idea? My dad damn near died saving the world with a bunch of superheroes. He came back despite the odds and then you got jealous. You ran your mouth and now the whole world knows about me and my brother. Any of this ringing a bell? Anything?"

"Blaine, I…."

"This. Is. Your. Fault!" Blaine roared and Santana had to admit… she was a little turned on. "You opened your mouth and told I don't even know but it doesn't matter because it wasn't your secret to tell. It was mine. You're upset because you didn't know. But there was a reason that no one knew. It was to prevent shit like this from happening! But no! You got mad because I didn't tell you and now the world knows that my dad has a huge weak spot. Now my best friend is in danger because you felt jealous or left out or bitter that I didn't tell you something that you feel special knowing I actually considered telling you. I really did. I was really going to tell you one day. But now I know why I was right to hesitate."

"Blaine…."

"Shut up, I don't want to hear it. There is nothing you can say that will make this better. There is nothing you can say that will make this right. If anything happens to Puck…. Well, I don't even need to threaten you. I have the rest of the Avengers and Darcy for that. But for the record, because I'm pretty sure you do suffer from some sort of delusional thought disorder, you and I are done. So now you have an extra ticket for your aunt or Carole's coworkers, whatever the hell."

As soon as he was done, Blaine turned and all but sprinted away. Santana inclined her head towards Sam who nodded and left to find Blaine. Santana glanced at Kurt to find him paler than normal. His eyes were filling with tears. His cheek was starting to swell and there was a bruise forming already. And Santana just didn't give a damn. Nothing Blaine said was wrong. Hell, she was wondering why it took him so long to say it. He had clearly been feeling that way the whole time. Oh well. She glanced at Brittany, who was similarly unaffected by Kurt's tears.

"So we give them five minutes and then we follow?" Santana suggested. Brittany nodded, though there was a gleam in her eye. Santana smirked. "You've seen it too, huh?"

"Oh yeah," Brittany grinned. "Puck and I are starting a pool. Clint has forty down on a month after we move. Natasha picked two. Puck and I both think six months. Bruce said immediately following the next big disaster."

Santana pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I'm going to put forty down on Bruce's date. And what's the pool look like on how long it's going to take Tony to figure this all out?"

Brittany laughed. "Pretty much everyone is betting that he's going to figure it out only after TMZ catches a picture of them making out in an alleyway or something. Puck says he's willing to cheat and tip the paparazzi off too."

Santana giggled, letting the topic chase away the stress. There was nothing to worry about. The Avengers were on the situation. They would find Puck and they would bring him home. They had to because she couldn't lose him. Not when she just got him back. Not when they were about to start their awesome new lives in New York. Puck couldn't check out now. There was too much for them to do. They hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of what they were meant to become. There was no way she was losing Puck now.

* * *

><p>When Sam caught up with Blaine in the parking lot, he didn't know what to expect. But it definitely wasn't what he found. And that was Blaine whaling on what appeared to be Kurt's car with a wooden 2x4. He waited for him to get a few good whacks in before tapping the shorter teen on the shoulder. Blaine whirled around ready for another confrontation only to come up short when face with Sam. The piece of wood dropped from his fingers and the tears Sam knew he had been holding back for a while started to well in his eyes. Sam didn't hesitate. He also didn't think. He simply reached forward and pulled Blaine into his arms.<p>

At first they stood together awkwardly. Blaine's teary face was mashed into Sam's broad chest. His hands were clenched tightly into fists at his side. But then slowly he relaxed. His arms loosened to wrap around Sam's waist. He shifted his head so it rested more comfortably on Sam's shoulder. The change in their embrace allowed Sam to rest his head against Blaine's. The faint tremors he felt in his friend's body faded as Blaine finally gave in, collapsing bonelessly against Sam.

"What's going on, Blaine? Tell me what's wrong."

"Everything," Blaine whispered. "Puck's been kidnapped because of me. The whole school was almost taken hostage and would've been if it wasn't for Santana and Puck. You know, the friend that was kidnapped because of me. My ex-boyfriend is an asshole and slapping him actually kind of hurt. I think his face may really be made out porcelain. The glee club probably hates me. And we're totally going to have to cancel the party and deal with Darcy and Cooper. And they're insanely annoying. Heavy emphasis on the insane."

Sam laughed softly, happy to hear Blaine attempt a little levity at least. "Well you left out the worst part."

"And that is?"

"Having to pay your asshole of an ex-boyfriend for damages to his car."

Blaine snorted. "Yeah, I was hoping that we could just pass this off as being from the kidnappers? What do you think?"

"Yeah, that works," Sam agreed. He hugged Blaine a little tighter. "You with me now? Because we need you."

"You guys don't need me. Puck definitely doesn't need me. This is my fault," Blaine pulled away and Sam mourned the loss of him in his arms more than he thought he would. Then he caught what Blaine just said. "Seriously, my entire existence causes problems. My parents argue all the time. Cooper resents me and the connection I have with our dad. Now look I put everyone in danger. It would be better if I just disappeared."

Ok, that was enough of that nonsense. He yanked Blaine back towards him again. He rested his head against Blaine's forehead and closed his eyes.

"You listen to me, Blaine Stark. It would not be better if you disappeared. Not for me or for anyone, especially not your dad. Tony loves you. We all do. So I get why you're feeling this way but you're wrong. We need you…. I need you."

"Sam," Blaine started but Sam shook his head cutting him off.

"Nope, not listening. You're wrong. I need you, Blaine. Even if you don't believe it, it's true. Right now our best friend is missing and I'm scared out of my mind. So I need you to help me get through this, ok?"

He felt Blaine nod. "Ok. Its ok, Sammy. I'm here. I swear."

Sam didn't realize how much he needed those until he heard Blaine say them. He pulled him in closer, breathing the other teen in and letting himself relax if only just for a moment. "I am really scared," he admitted. "I don't want to lose Puck but I can't lose you either."

"It's ok," Blaine murmured, rubbing his hands along Sam's back. "You're not going to lose either of us. My dad and the rest of the Avengers are on it. They're going to fix this. You're definitely not going to lose me because I'm right here with you. I'm right here."

"We're here too," Brittany said as she and Santana emerge from the building. The two girls slid into their hug naturally like they've all been doing this for years. All around them was chaos as emergency workers tended to the frightened students and confused parents and teachers. But within their group hug, everything was calm. The whole world ceased to exist for that one perfect moment… that is until Darcy started pounding on the car horn while Cooper yelled dramatically in the background.

They jumped apart and then laughed at the sudden intrusion of the real world. They all ignored how they were each wiping away tears.

"When this is all over," Santana started as they walked towards Darcy and Cooper. "I say we wrap Puck in bubble wrap and forbid him from leaving our collective eye sight."

Sam laughed and felt even more relieved when he heard Blaine laugh as well. It was going to be ok. He believed it now. Everything was going to be ok.

* * *

><p>When Tony was first faced with the prospect of becoming a father, he swore that he wasn't going to flake on his kid. He would never make a promise that he had no intention of keeping. He never wanted his son to think of him the way that the rest of the world did. And he was good with that. He never made a promise to Cooper or Blaine that he couldn't keep. He would move heaven and hell for his sons and they both knew it. So when he promised Blaine that he was going to bring Puck home safe, he meant it. He didn't think it was going to be a promise he wasn't going to be able to keep. They were the damn Avengers. They just saved the world. Like hell they couldn't save a teenager.<p>

But as they touched down at the location of Puck's tracker, Tony was faced with the sudden reality that maybe they couldn't save a teenager. His eyes widened as he stared at burning building in front of them. Almost as if on cue, there was a loud explosion from within the ruins of what was once a long abandoned science lab on the outskirts of Lima. The force of the blast rocked the jet and the six Avengers crowded together inside. The left side of the building completely collapsed.

"Noah?" Steve whispered quietly. It was his voice that snapped them out of their surprised stupor. Tony cleared his throat.

"JARVIS, do a scan for any sign of life inside that building."

"_Scan complete. There are no signs of life inside the facility. The fire has been burning for well over twenty minutes."_

"Scan again," Tony ordered, his voice shaking on the command. There was no way in hell they were only twenty minutes late.

"_Sir, scan is complete. There are no signs of life. The heat of the fire and the smoke have insured that there are no survivors."_

Steve shook his head and turned to exit the plane. Clint and Thor raced out after him. Tony watched as Steve made it just a few feet away from the building. He was close enough to see the devastation for himself. Tony hoped that he would see something they might have missed. Something that meant that there was a chance that Puck survived this but instead he saw Steve collapse to his knees. Clint and Thor kneeled down beside him in silent mourning of their own. Tony fought the urge to fall down himself.

It wasn't even that the kid was his son's best friend. He genuinely liked Puck. The kid was smarter than he gave himself credit for and he was loyal. He was a good kid and he didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to die in some godforsaken building in the middle of nowhere without anyone there for him. He didn't deserve to die probably scared and alone. Steve didn't deserve to lose one of the only family members he had alive. Blaine, Santana, Sam and Brittany didn't deserve to lose a best friend. God, he had no idea how the hell they were supposed to tell the kids that Puck was….

"_Sir, scanners are indicating that there is now a sign of life. Just one. But the smoke and debris are interfering with the system. I cannot get an accurate read on who it is but it's moving towards the right side of the facility_."

Bruce and Natasha met his gaze and nodded as they all ran out of the jet. By the time they made it to where their other three teammates were still kneeling, they saw a figure stumbling blindly out of the building. Even from where he was standing, Tony could see that the person was limping heavily and covered in ash. He didn't have a clear visual but he didn't need to. The surprised bark of laughter coming from Clint gave him all the answers he needed. Steve was on his feet in the next second and running to meet the bedraggled teen before he hit the ground. The rest of the team was surrounding them less than a minute later.

"Hey, what took you guys so long?" Puck asked with a tired grin. His voice sounded hoarse. There were visible bruises on his face and neck. He was covered in soot. And the eyes that reminded Steve of his mother were too bright and not quite dilating properly. Tony knew he wasn't the only one that thought Puck was the most beautiful thing he'd seen all day.

Steve held the teen closer and laughed tearfully. "You know. There was traffic."

"Can we go home now, Gramps?"

"Yeah, we can go home now."

Puck blinked blearily in Steve's direction. "You didn't veto it."

"No, I didn't," Steve smiled. Tony had a feeling that Steve would be going along with whatever ridiculous nickname Puck came up with for quite some time. He had a feeling that Puck was going to definitely exploit that. Well, he would once he woke up anyway. Steve shifted the now unconscious teen into a more comfortable hold.

Bruce gave Tony a look. He nodded, holding up his tablet to let JARVIS run a cursory medical scan on Puck. He was fine for the most part. There was some sort of sedative in his system, a few bruises and burns along with a mild case of smoke inhalation but to say that he just walked out of the burning remains of a rather large building, he was actually doing pretty well.

"I think he's going to be fine," Bruce said to Steve after looking at the results himself. "Let's just get him checked out anyway. We don't want him developing bad habits."

"Why do I feel like that was directed at me?" Clint mused with a grin. Natasha rolled her eyes at her partner.

"Possibly because Bruce was the one that had to threaten to Hulk out to get you checked out in Medical following the Invasion."

"Yeah, and you still managed to escape," Bruce chided, ushering the archer towards the jet. Steve followed behind with his precious cargo still knocked out in his arms. If he was heavy, Steve made no complaints about the weight. If anything he looked like he might just fight the person who suggested moving him. Tony let it go.

Tony settled back in his seat opposite Steve and Puck. The teen was still out for the count but was now sprawled across Steve's lap. Steve was looking down at him like if he blinked for just a minute the kid would be gone. Tony was very familiar with that feeling so he didn't bother to comment. Thor was flying alongside the jet. Clint and Bruce were still bickering in the front with Natasha playing the role of biased referee. Because yeah, she acknowledged that her partner's self-preservation skills were severely lacking but she also was dating the fool so her bias was clear. Tony just took it all in and let himself relax. They got Puck back. He didn't have to mourn the loss of an amazing human being. He didn't need to tell his son that his best friend was dead. He didn't need to watch Steve cope with losing such a huge part of his new world. They didn't get the Intel on the HYDRA rumors but Nick said that he was sending another agent team out there to investigate. Clint vouched that Garret and Triplett would get the job done. So Tony trusted in that and decided to focus on what was really important: this makeshift bizarre family he found over the last month.

Yeah, everything was going to be ok.

* * *

><p>*You guys don't even know how lucky you got. I was actually going to end it on a cliffhanger. But I guess the Holiday Spirit got me and I couldn't end it there. But it was such a close thing! LOL. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Also the alternate title for this chapter was going to be 'The one where stuff finally happens'. There were a few hints in this chapter about overreaching arcs in this story but I promise their days of just sitting around are pretty much over. I think one more chapter and then it's New York and training time for Santana and Puck. Hope you'll stick with me through that! Ciao for now!<p> 


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